I received my paper work to take a student teacher next year. While I was filling the paperwork out it got me thinking about why I teach P.E. and what makes it so enjoyable to me. I recently changed schools to get closer to home and could not have chosen a better situation to be in myself. I will have to give all that credit to God. I have the most amazing Principal who luckily is a former Physical Educator himself. He is true teachers principal and has produced outstanding numbers in his four years at PKES. What more could you ask for out of principal.
One of the first few days of school we were both standing on duty and he had just finished talking to a parent. I looked at him and said "I don't know how you do it, I could not and would never want your job." That is when the question came up that sparked this post. He looked at me with a smile on his face and said "Well then... what do you want to do.?" Without even having to think about it I knew what I was going to say. "I want be the Karen Roof of Fort Mill!"
Now for those of you from my area better know Karen Roof. If you do not, you are missing out. Ms. Roof was my mentor when I did my student teaching. She has also been the mentor to many other teachers spread around the nation who graduated from the Physical Education Department at Winthrop University. Ms. Roof, from my knowledge, has taken a student teacher every year for at least the last 10 years. Some years she takes one or two, but I know for a fact that she has had at least four in one year (a half semester at a time). 
While I have picked up many teaching techniques along the way, I would say that the majority of my teaching style comes from Karen Roof. Why you ask? It is not because she is a good teacher or even a great teacher. It is because she is the best Elementary PE Teacher I have ever met, seen, or heard, about. She has been named teacher of the year at least 6 or 7 times at several different schools. The kids love her, yet they know there are expectations and consequences. She is all over the place helping out where ever she is needed. She is loved by her colleagues and she is a great mentor to all up and coming teachers. That's right I said teachers not just P.E. teachers. She also teaches a class at Winthrop for Elementary Education students on how to incorporate movement in their classrooms.
Now then. Will I ever live up to being the Karen Roof of Fort Mill. I do not know? She has some big shoes to fill, but I will retire trying to live up to the standards and expectations she has set for all P.E. teachers across the country. So why do I teach the way I do and love my job so much? I owe 99% of it to my role model, mentor, colleague, and friend Karen Roof. Without her and of course my great education from one of the top education schools in the nation, (Winthrop University) I would just be your average Joe P.E. Teacher.
Do you have someone who you look up to and that has inspired you to get to where you are today?
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