The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) Continuing Education Department and the Conference Planning Committee are accepting proposals for 55-minute workshops. The conference will offer a complimentary registration and potential compensation. ​​

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Proposal Deadline is April 5, 2024. Please submit one form per proposal.​

Selected workshop presenters will be notified via email by the end of April 2024.​

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If you're a student seeking complimentary admission to the conference, you have the opportunity to secure it by volunteering for the event!​ Some volunteer opportunities are helping with attendee check-in, moderating sessions, equipment set-up, photographing for social media, ​etc. This would be a great way for you to network with professionals in the field as well as learn more about health and physical education to meet the diverse needs of students. 

​​​​Please email the UWSP Conference Planning Team at uwspce-conf@uwsp.edu if you have any questions. ​

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Ms.  LaDonda Porter is a physical education teacher at Beaumont Middle School in Lexington, KY where she has been teaching for over 15 years. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a Bachelors in health and physical education (K-12).  She holds a master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University in Library Science. She currently serves on the Kentucky Society of Health and Physical Education board as president.  In 2018, she was named KYSHAPE middle school teacher of the year and in 2020, she was named Southern District middle school teacher of the year.  The southern district serves members from 13 states. In 2019, she was awarded the University of Kentucky’s College of Education Lyman T. Johnson Torch of Excellence award which recognizes African American UK alumni who have impacted the lives of people on UK’s campus.  She has served as the 2023 KYSHAPE president and currently holds the board position as awards chair.  Her time at Beaumont Middle includes the duties of serving as the student trainer for their WEB (Where Everybody Belongs) mentoring program.  She has also been serving as the intramural director for over 10 years and as the athletic director for over 8 years.  When she is not teaching, she is spending time with her children, 3 boys and 1 girl, or helping out her husband with their family-owned BBQ food truck.

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These are just some of the health disparities and social influencers of health that we, along with our students, face. They have a direct effect on Health and well-being.

Featured Topics:

• Meaningful PE
• Adventure-based curriculum
• Equitable practices in the classroom
• Skills-Based Health Education
• Vaping/Tobacco
• Brain Health
• Aquatics
• Health. Moves. Minds.
• Mental Health Literacy
  
• Adapted Physical Education
• Unified Physical Education
• Sport Ed Model 
• Meditation/mindfulness techniques 

Registration and check-in.​​

Wel​come

​​Level Up to Skills-Based Health Education!​

Learn how to take the existing lessons and/or assessments in your health curriculum and match them with a skill from the National Health Education Standards to create an outline of a skills-based health education unit. This session includes working time, so attendees should come prepared with unit outlines, curriculum maps, or similar documents to help them plan. Attendees will take what they are already doing in their health classroom and shift it to fit the components of a skills-based health curriculum.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to implement core components of a skills-based health education curriculum.

2. Parti​​​cipants will be able to develop unit outlines that follow best practices for skills-based health education.

3. Participants will be able to differentiate between skills-based health education and content-based health education.
   

J​eff Bartlett has worked at the Holten Richmond Middle School, a public 6-8 middle school in Danvers, Massachusetts, since 2008. Jeff is a graduate of Springfield College and Boston University. He was selected as the 2020 Massachusetts Health Teacher of the Year, the 2021 SHAPE America Eastern District Teacher of the Year, and the 2021 SHAPE America National Teacher of the Year. In addition to teaching, Jeff enjoys coaching high school cross country and track & field at Danvers High School, home of the 2023 Massachusetts Boys Cross Country State Champions. Jeff also owns “Level Up Health Education, LLC." He aims to help grow the skills of health educators from across the country through his email newsletter, professional development opportunities, and by creating free and paid resources for teachers. In his spare time, he likes to read, cycle outdoors or on Zwift, and hike. He lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with his wife and two daughters.​​

​Join us for an evening​ of networking! There will be appetizers and a cash bar available. 

​Registration check-in and coffee.

Welcome by Meg Whaley, Mary Wetland, & Penny Kroening

Resilience: The Path to Hope and Healing​

A focus on resilience and protective factors that can make a big difference in preventing and addressing the mental health challenges our kids are facing.

Learning Objectives:​ ​

1. Identify th​e eight essential factors that can guide our relationships and focus with students to maximize the power of your influence as ​​​​a teacher. ​
   

2. ​Promote protective factors in the classroom that will enhance student resilience and improve academic engagement. 

3. Make connections between how our own adult resilience influences our ability to support students with mental health challenges.​​​

Connecting Me & You

Presenter: Allisha Blanchette, Health Education Teacher, 2021 SHAPE MW Health Teach of the Year

Biography: Allisha is a health and physical education teacher, cross country coach, and wellness advocate. In the local community and state level she has mentored future professionals, presented mental health practices for PATCH, and several topics for WHPE in PE, Dance & Health. Allisha is especially passionate about mental/emotional health, EDI, and trauma informed practices and has shared nationally as a guest blogger and presenter for several organizations including INSHAPE, KYSHAPE, SHAPE America, and Team Lighthouse. @RunDanceLive

It’s me and you versus the problem, not me versus you. Social polarization can impact student connections with learning and each other. Using the health skill standards to teach social health and social emotional skills can help students move beyond stigmas and preconceived notions to take action in making connections in a variety of relationships. In this session explore activities to give students an opportunity to build self-identity, embrace culture and celebrate diversity while tackling tough topics in ways that will encourage students to think beyond their own culture and experiences.  

Learning Objectives: 

This is How We MOVE IT!​

Presenter: Auburn Cain, Physical Education Teacher

Biography: Auburn Cain is an elementary PE teacher in Gonzales, Louisiana and was named teacher of the year in 2019 at her current school.​

Want to teach dance in your PE program but have 2 left feet? This is how we do it! Come explore how we use basic movement patterns, simple dance steps, beats, rhythms, parachutes, and jump bands so that even the non-dancer can shine! These activities can be used and modified in grades K-12 allowing for plenty of self-expression, challenges, and enjoyment! Come move it with me! 

Learning Objectives:

1. Discover basic skills used to teach beat and rhythm in grades K-12.

2. Learn how to arrange & differentiate simple dance patterns that can be built upon in their PE programs for all learners. 
   

3. Explore how to use locomotor skills, parachutes, and jump bands to teach beat, rhythm, and dance.    
   

Teachers of Today & Tomorrow: Mentoring Techniques for Promising Professionals

Biographies: Cindie Cortinas - Washington Elementary 27 yrs. experience 2024 Shape Elementary TOY 2024 Shape Midwest Elementary TOY 2023 IAHPERD Elementary TOY 1996 Illinois State.

Kelly Zerby - Kelly Zerby, Elementary PE Teacher, Jefferson Elementary School, DeKalb, IL, District 428 PE Coordinator, D428 Pre-service Teacher Facilitator, IAHPERD Past President and CFP Advisor,2022 Midwest Elementary PE Teacher of the Year, 2021 Illinois Elementary PE Teacher of the year, NIU Adjunct Faculty

Gail Hartig - 2022 IAHPERD Middle School TOY, IAHPERD President Elect- Teenage Youth, IAHPERD Northeastern District President Elect, Physical Education Teacher/Department Chair- Jefferson Junior High School, Woodridge, Illinois​

Our responsibility as seasoned educators is to help mold the new generation of teachers! Learn some tips of the trade from some veteran teachers who have found success molding clinical students and student teachers and new professionals into our profession. How can you help guide these students from pre-service into their first few years of teaching? Let's work collaboratively to discuss some new ideas to help both your students and promising professionals succeed.

Learning Objectives:

1. Develop new and exciting strategies to help mentor a future professional.

2. Devise a cooperative plan for teachers and students to work together on student success. ​
   

3. Combine both new and old strategies into a successful plan for a positive teaching environment.    ​​
   

P.E. = Purposeful Engagement

Making Nutrition Education Real - #10th Grade Chefs Take Over High School Cafeteria

Presenter: Stephen Chapin, Health Education Teacher

Biography: Stephen Chapin just finished his 29th year teaching middle and high school health and physical education in SW Minnesota.  The 2023 MNSHAPE Health Teacher of the Year, Chapin's health education classroom is focused on hands-on - experiential learning that connects the classroom to the community and beyond.  Chapin has presented multiple times at the MNSHAPE conference and the MN School Board Association and led a team of staff and students to present at the 2023 SHAPE America Conference in Seattle. Chapin's #10thGradeChefs program has received multiple awards for innovative teaching and focus on nutrition education, as well as celebrating student choice and diversity within the school.  He has also created health education electives highlighting 14 different healthcare careers in conjunction with the Mayo Clinic and many other local healthcare entities.  A softball and volleyball coach of 25 + years - recently converted to an MSHSL VB/BB/SB/BB official, Chapin lives with his wife Michele and 12-year-old dachshund in St. James, MN.

Meaningful PE: Let’s Unpack Challenge

Adventure on a Budget

Lunch 

Creating a Classroom Where Every Student Belongs​

Presenter: Patty Zemke, 2022 WI Teacher of the Year, 2016 WHPE Health Teacher of the Year

Biography: My name is Patricia (Patty) Zemke and I am a National Board Certified Health Educator with 29 years of experience at the middle school level. I build positive connections through authentic, friendly relationships. I have written and received several grants for student advocacy projects, cultivated community partnerships, and I work to inspire educators statewide and nationally to exceed expectations. In my classroom, I create a safe place for students to share their dreams, develop empathy, inspire one another, recognize personal grit, and practice the skills that empower them to become their best selves. In 2016, I was named Wisconsin Health Teacher of the Year. In 2022, I was named Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. In 2024, I went to Capitol Hill to “Speak Out!” for health education with SHAPE America! 

​Learning Objectives:

Step Up to the Show!

Dance has a long history of bringing people together. During this 60-minute session, you will acknowledge, appreciate, and build awareness of different dance styles by engaging in innovative choreography. In addition, cultural learning through dance helps students develop respect for other cultures and pride in their own. The presenter will share routines and resources to provide throughout the school year.

Learning Objectives:

1. Design a dance unit with multiple tools and styles to provide dance for your students. 

2. Apply what they learned to create a dance unit in multiple ways to fit the needs of their program. 
   

3. Locate different resources and dances to teach students.

Teaching Peers to EMBRACE Everyone’s Different Abilities

Biography: Sadie Brown has been teaching for 15 years, 9 as an APE teacher.​

Come learn about how we can teach our peers to be accepting of everyone's abilities.  I will share some practical things you can do in your classes to make all students feel welcome.  You will walk away with ideas you can use to do some sensitivity training for peers. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn more about how to EMBRACE all abilities 

2. Learn some activities to do for sensitivity training
   

3. Gain a variety of resources to support teaching others about all abilities

Clearing the Air: Taking on Vaping as an Educator

Balloons, Noodles, and Teamwork…Oh My!

Biography: 2024 SHAPE America Central District Elementary PE Teacher of the Year - 2022 MNSHAPE Elementary PE Teacher of the Year - Physical Education teacher at Sumner Elementary School in Austin, MN. 

Come one, come all! We'll be learning a variety of cooperative activities using balloons, noodles, and other easily accessible equipment. Activities shared are designed to provide maximum engagement with minimal direct instruction. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to learn cooperative partner activities using various equipment.
   

2. Participants will be able to determine which skill-related fitness components are aligned to learning activities. 

3. Participants will be able to utilize technology to make instruction more comprehensible for their students. 
   

How to Bring out the Kid in your High School Students​

Biography: Katie Shulfer - Physical education teacher & APE at DC Everest Senior High School, 2021 Promizing Professional WI, Current WHPE High School VP​

Learning Objectives: 

1. Participants will be able to take away 3 or more activities to incorporate into their teaching. 

2. Participants will learn how to layer different elementary activities with their grade level outcomes.
   

3. Participants will be able to learn how to involve student input when choosing instant activities.

Creative Canvases: Exploring Art as a Tool for Health Education!

Presenter: Ian Lacasse, Health & Physical Education Teacher

Biography: Health & Physical Education Teacher - Madison West High School WHPE Southeast District Coordinator SHAPE Midwest Leadership Council 2021 WHPE Health Teacher of the Year

In this session discover how the arts can enhance the development of health skills! Participants will discover how using different art disciplines can help students analyze influences, make healthy decisions, support healthy behaviors, and advocate for health! Teachers will leave with engaging activities that can be implemented in the health classroom.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn how integrating arts can improve health skill development.

2. Explore how using a variety of art disciplines aids students in analyzing health influences, decision-making, promoting healthy behaviors, and advocating for health.  

3. Acquire engaging activities to incorporate arts into the health education curriculum.​​ 

More Than a Game: Purposeful Play in Physical Education

Come play with us in this fast paced and exciting activity-based session that will showcase quality instructional strategies that are inclusive for all students. We will share differentiated, equitable and diverse learning experiences in movement and play-based learning and share how we analyze the instructional design process in a way that leads to purposeful instruction. You will leave this session with a repertoire of planned and purposeful strategies that your students will love!

Learning Objectives:

1. Create differentiated, equitable and inclusive learning experiences and analyze their instructional design process that will lead to purposeful standards based instruction for all students.

2. Develop confidence and empathy through the interconnections established during learning experiences that employ social awareness, decision making, and leadership skills.
   

3. Analyze their instructional design process and create a plan to incorporate social emotional learning concepts into their already existing physical education curriculum as a way to advocate the importance of SEL, Physical Education and movement in learning to school stakeholders.​
   

The Role of Leadership in Fostering a Culture of Health & Wellness​

Leadership and company culture play a pivotal role in promoting health and physical fitness within an organization. As a society that makes connecting anywhere at the tap of a screen, we are the most socially isolated and unhealthy as ever. Employees are also sharing their own dissatisfaction through employee engagement and culture surveys. Our mental health personally and professionally is at an all-time low. Here's how leadership, company culture, health, and fitness are interconnected: 1. Modeling & Encouragement; 2. Creating a Supportive Environment; 3. Fostering Teamwork & Morale &; 4. Health as a Component of Employee Value Proposition

Learning Objectives: 

1. Understand the Role of Leadership in Promoting Workplace Wellness: Participants will learn how leadership behaviors and attitudes directly influence the ​development of a health-centric company culture. They will explore strategies for leaders to model and encourage healthy lifestyles, demonstrating the importance of top-down support in the successful implementation of health and fitness initiatives. 

2. Design and Implement Supportive Health and Wellness Programs: Learners will gain insights into creating a supportive environment that values employee well-being through practical initiatives. ​​
   

3. Enhance Organizational Culture and Employee Engagement through Health and Fitness: This objective focuses on the benefits of integrating health and fitness into company culture, including fostering teamwork, boosting morale, and enhancing the Employee Value Proposition. Participants will understand how health and fitness initiatives contribute to attracting and retaining talent, reducing healthcare costs, and improving overall employee satisfaction and productivity.​​ 

Teaching Values and Student Identity

Presenter: Nathan Korth, Health Education Teacher, UW-Whitewater Adjunct Professor

Biography: Nathan is a full-time health education teacher at Edgerton Middle School (6-8th grade) in Edgerton, WI. He recently earned the honor of being the 2024 Wisconsin Health Teacher of the Year. Along with teaching, Nathan is an adjunct professor at UW-Whitewater. Recently, Nathan taught Health Methods and in the past taught Teaching of Cooperative, Adventure, and Outdoor Education. 

Participants will come away with two lessons.  The first is a lesson on values and how they shape our behaviors. The second is about identity and our visible (outside) traits and our invisible (inside) traits.  These lessons will have students take a deeper look at themselves and identify where they get their values from and what their values are.  

Learning Objectives:

1. ​​Participants will be able to have two ready-to-go lessons teaching about identity and values.

2. Participants will be able to learn how to incorporate The Daily Five email to engage students in new conversations daily. 

3. Participants will be able to learn a new review game called Gimkit to use as a formative assessment.   ​
   

CORE PE Curriculum - Build Your PE Program from the Inside Out​

Multiple Minds = Maximum Movement - PLC’s in ACTION​​​

​Pres​enter: Daniel Hill, Physical Education Teacher​ ​​

Biography: Daniel Hill is a highly accomplished educator with 23 years of experience teaching elementary physical education. He holds national board certification in early to middle childhood Physical Education and has served as the past president of KY-SHAPE. In 2014, Daniel was honored with the title of Kentucky Elementary PE Teacher of the Year, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the field. Additionally, he is a respected OPEN National Trainer, further showcasing his dedication to promoting physical fitness and wellness in schools. 

Your P.L.C (Professional Learning Community) may need to extend beyond the walls of your classroom. Join National Board-Certified Teacher Daniel Hill as he shares sources of inspiration from his P.L.C.  This active session will explore an array of K-12 health and PE curricular resources.  Examine and modify multiple resources to best fit your teaching situation.  

Learning Objectives:

1. Examine the benefits of a diverse professional learning community. 

2. Actively explore various K-12 professionals and their contributions to the PE community.
   

3. Develop a plan to expand your existing professional learning community 
   

Join us for the picnic on Thursday evening hosted by School Health​! It will be held at the Bukolt Park Shelter, 100 Bukolt Ave., Stevens Point, WI 54481, with food and refreshments available.​

Advocating for Brain Health-Now, How do I Teach it to Engage my Students?

Presenter: Kimberly Jaeger, Health & Physical Education Teacher

Biography: I have been teaching Health and Physical Education for over 25 years! I believe that Health Education is a lifesaving, life-changing, and life-enhancing class for teens. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband, dog, and TRI training.

Many Health Educators are aware of or piloted the new DPI Unit entitled "Advocating for Brain Health" lessons for grades 6-12.  In this session, I hope to help you as a classroom teacher get started teaching this amazing unit! With my 8th grade health classes, I was able to modify the unit to make it work best for my teaching style. I designed activities for each lesson that I believe would best engage my students to advocate for the importance of brain health. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Engage in activities that will work in the classroom for the "Advocating for Brain Health" Unit

2. Experience an overview of the unit and gather new ideas and learn from colleagues how best to teach this with your students 
   

3. Have fun learning about a new advocacy project that you can use with your students!

Movement is Magic!

As physical educators, we know the impact that movement has on our students both academically and behaviorally. In fact, for many of our students, it can be the magic key to experiencing success! In this session, we will explore how reading, math, science, and social studies skills can be seamlessly integrated into physical education as well as how to infuse movement into core content areas through collaboration. These ready-to-use activities will make a difference by providing multiple opportunities for content connections through high energy movement. Come see the magic with your own eyes! 

Learning Objectives:

1. ​Discover activities that can be used across content areas to provide multiple learning opportunities to increase student success in both the gym and the classroom.

2. Identify how these activities can add value to your physical education classroom for whole child learning. 

3. Apply these activities to your physical education class and initiate ways to add movement in core content areas throughout the day.  

Leadership in PE

How can I maximize the natural leadership abilities my students already possess in my PE and Health classes? Why don't these students have any resilience? I don't even know where to begin with leadership in my Health and PE curriculum. In this session you will learn how to incorporate leadership and resiliency into your PE and Health classes in a fun and interactive way. Community Building, Love and Servant Leadership are just a few of the lessons and skills you will learn about to take back to your students. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to build off of their student's current natural leadership ability. 
   

2. Participants will be able to take a few developed lessons around leadership back to their classes that they can incorporate immediately.

3. Participants will be able to answer the question of "how do I build resilience in my students?"
   

SEL for Teachers: How are you Practicing Self-Care?

Presenter: Sarah Mosley, Associate Teaching Professor, UW LaCrosse

Biography: Sarah spent almost twenty years in K-12 education before transitioning to UW-LaCrosse, where she is the School Health Coordinator. Sarah’s passion for mental health led her to connect with Better Together of La Crosse County as a steering committee member. She is also a nationally certified Mental Health First Aid instructor.

The focus is often SEL for students.  But what about SEL.  Attendees in this class will leave with knowledge about the importance of adult SEL.  In addition, practical strategies for self-care will be presented with tools and apps to make practicing self-care a priority.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participates will understand concepts surrounding secondary trauma and how that impacts the mental health of teachers.

2. Participants will be able to explore apps that enhance staff SEL.
   

3. Participants will practice self-care strategies they can personally use and/or advocate for in their schools to enhance adult SEL.

Elementary #PhysEd Faves

Empowering Health and Wellness: Strategies for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)

This session is dedicated to enhancing health and wel​lness education for individuals with IDD. We will tackle low health literacy within the IDD community and explore tools that can be employed to enhance effective health promotion. We'll discuss the limitations of modern fitness trackers for individuals with IDD, particularly in assessing abnormal gait patterns. Finally, other tools and approaches will be explored that have shown promise in engaging individuals with IDD, drawing from observations and studies of adult populations. Attendees will leave equipped with strategies to empower individuals with IDD to lead healthier lifestyles. 

 Learning Objectives:​​