Have you seen any changes to the physical education criteria since you’ve taught here?

Not since I have been here. The real changes happened before I started teaching, but we didn’t offer the boating license option when I first started. B

ut other than that, I would say that the criteria hasn’t changed from when I started 15 years ago–which is promoting a healthy lifestyle.

What made you choose physical education as your career?

Just the idea of sports and movement. I couldn’t imagine myself sitting behind a desk or computer. I just wanted to be moving. I also liked teaching, and I liked the idea of being able to share my knowledge with people who need it, so the job seemed to be the right fit for me.

What’s your favorite part about your job?         

Being able to have an impact on the kids. I feel like I have been lucky enough to learn the importance of health and wellness and how much of a positive impact it has had for me, and I think it’s important to share that with students.

What is your favorite unit to teach?

Climbing is by far my favorite. Even though there is a lot of safety information that goes along with the unit, the students accomplish so much more than they ever thought they could. They get so excited about how far they’ve come and the class really starts to rally in that unit. They all start to cheer each other on and congratulate each other, and it’s a really cool thing to see and be a part of.

Do you have a unit that you wish they would add?

Not really, I just wish there was a better way to integrate important health and fitness concepts into all the units. It’s hard to try to work important health and wellness subjects like drug addiction or stress into say the tennis unit or the swimming unit in a way that it fits naturally. So I wish that it was a little easier to touch on those subjects without just throwing it into our conversation before we launch right into our activity. But as for adding units, I think that the ones that we have now are enough, because those are the activities that students are most likely going to use throughout their lives, as opposed to playing team sports, where it’s less likely that you’ll be participating in those things outside of college.  

What is your favorite cheat meal/ healthy meal?

I don’t really like to think of them as cheat meals, because I work hard and eat healthy, so I don’t really see it as cheating. But I like a good Five Guys Burger. As for my favorite healthy meal, my favorite is this homemade burrito bowl that my family likes to make on occasion. I got the recipe I got from Pioneer Woman, which I watch sometimes. It’s a pain to make, because you have to cut up all the vegetables, and I always make the guacamole and the pico and the rice and all that fun stuff to go with it, but it’s definitely worth it.

What is your favorite physical activity to do outside of school? Least favorite?

Running is my favorite and my least favorite. I don’t enjoy it while I am doing it, but I love it when I am done, and it’s what I do most consistently. I have also found that it is much more enjoyable when you do it with other people, so I make a habit of running with my husband or going to the park with my friends on weekends.  

What is your favorite tv show/ genre of movies?

I love a classic “chick flick,” and I love me some Hallmark channel – nothing like the Countdown to Christmas. I am not a big fan of action, violence, or scary movies or anything like that. Drama, maybe. Comedy–but it can’t be crude or obnoxious. I have gotten into The Good Doctor, and I do and will tape This Is Us. Those are the two I will DVR if I don’t have time to sit down and watch them.

Do you have any special items on your bucket list? 

I have always wanted to water ski. I love the water and it’s something that I imagine would take some strength and finesse to do, and that it would be a fun and active challenge for me. I don’t really have any desire to jump out of an airplane or anything like that.  I know a lot of people travel, but Mr. Roman and I don’t really have any desire to go international. We will do the occasional Disney trip with the kids, and we went on a trip to the Pacific Northwest by ourselves one time and that was really nice, but I think that is about the extent of our traveling.

Tell me something that most people don’t know about you:

I completed an Ironman Triathlon in 2007 and was at the first day of school the next day. The triathlon was hard. I actually felt better the next day, which was kind of weird. I was really ecstatic that I did it, and getting to see all the different types of athletes running was really cool. I think that the greatest part about that entire process wasn’t the triathlon specifically, but the training I did working up to it. I think I trained for around six months, so, to me, putting in all that work and watching myself progress to those distances was really really cool.

What is your biggest goal for your students? What do you hope they take away from your class?

I would love to be able to say I have impacted my students in some way to live a healthy and active lifestyle.  Maybe they learned some new skills or activities they could use to keep active or perhaps gave them some motivation or inspiration to make their health and fitness a priority. My biggest hope for those who may not come into class with a willingness to participate one-hundred percent will at least walk out with a skill set that they will use outside of school and throughout their life.