Email: shapemichiganoffice@gmail.com
Website: www.shapemichigan.us
Phone: 866-980-4284
Facebook: facebook.com/SHAPEMICHIGAN
Twitter: @SHAPEMI

Welcome to the SHAPE Michigan December Newsletter!

Thank you to the almost 500 participants, including speakers, exhibitors, and attendees, for making the trip to Traverse City for the 2022 SHAPE Michigan Convention. The networking, education, and growth was substantial and this event was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all of the award and grant honorees. Thank you all for supporting SHAPE Michigan and the profession of Physical Education and Health.

Mark your calendars for the 2023 convention in Lansing - November 2nd - 4th! This will be another great professional development opportunity! In addition, please take advantage of all of our upcoming events including our virtual Networking Night on December 15th and a virtual Adapted PE event on January 19th.

SHAPE Michigan looks forward to continuing to provide services, information, and opportunities

to all Physical Education and Health professionals in the upcoming year. Please send us your

suggestions, feedback and and comments. Send an email to

shapemichigandirector@gmail.com or call 866.9804284.

SHAPE Michigans Virtual Networking sessions are a wonderful way to connect, collaborate, and share with other Health and Physical Education professionals. Connect directly with others in your content area. Join us....Free for everyone!

Access at: Networking Link or shapemichigan.us

My name is Tess Armstrong and I teach in the Health and Physical Education program at GVSU. I knew I wanted to teach for most of my childhood, and I also LOVED playing sports (especially rugby…which I still play), so I thought PE was a natural fit. Growing up in Canada, I didn’t have an elementary school PE teacher, so I didn’t even know it was a career option until I got to university.

I earned my undergraduate degree at Boston University, where I was a member of the women’s rowing team. After college I moved to Colorado and earned my Masters in the Art of Teaching, and was certified to teach in K-8 classrooms. Shortly after graduating I took my first elementary PE position at a charter school in Colorado Springs. This is where my advocacy for quality teachers began, and I sought opportunities to teach in higher education to learn how to change educational systems. I enrolled in a PhD program at the University of New Mexico (while teaching at a PK-2 school in Albuquerque), and moved to Michigan 7-years ago, upon completion of the program. I am passionate about advocating for all students, but even more partial to the students for whom physical education is embarrassing, uncomfortable, or unsafe. I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue to learn, grow, and teach in my current position.

The 2022 SHAPE Michigan Award Honorees were celebrated Thursday, November 10th, at the Convention in Traverse City. Congratulations to all of these exceptional professionals. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to Physical Education and Health.

This semester, the GVSU Health and Physical Education program continued to foster and grow partnerships with Lamont Christian School, and the GVSU Children’s Enrichment Center (CEC). In HPE 306 (Methods of Teaching Elementary PE), GVSU HPE majors taught a combination of skill themes (kicking, throwing, striking with racquets) and movement concepts (force, speed, pathways, levels) to students in grades 1-4. Our teaching culminated in an “Animated Movie” themed field day, complete with 13 field day stations, and a mini photo-booth.

In HPE 264 (Methods of Teaching Early Childhood Movement and Health), GVSU HPE majors and Birth-Kindergarten Teaching majors used trauma-informed strategies and developmentally appropriate progressions to teach health education and gross-motor skills to the Preschool 3 class at the GVSU Children’s Enrichment Center. Every Thursday for the last 6-weeks of class, the Jenny Evert (lead teacher) and 15 “Little Lakers” walked across campus to join us in the gymnastics room on campus. Students engaged in dance, gymnastics, and general large-motor learning, as well as learning about essential health topics using the Michigan Model for Health curriculum.

Both opportunities are possible because of our amazing community partners, who value the high impact practice that is possible when the community works together. We are grateful for the opportunity to teach all our “Little Lakers,” and look forward to many more years of partnerships.

Students from Otsego Public school completed Rhythm Fitness in Physical Education with rhythm sticks from @openphysed. The students were led by PE teacher Amy Nieuwenhuis who had the students complete various patterns, rhythms, and movements.

Need holiday themed activities for your Physical Education class? Check out the 8 stations presented by Kelli Smith

The setup for Portage Central's Annual 3D Holiday Archery Challenge!

Did you know 4th and 5th graders ski free? Check out the link below and learn about the Cold is Cool Ski and Ride Passport App.

Apply for a SPEAK Out! Day grant, which can be used to help offset travel costs:

Application Deadline: January 12 2023. https://shapeamerica.wufoo.com/forms/m1lcsmce18l6qli/

Grant recipients will be selected by SHAPE America and notified personally by January 16, 2023.

Doug Curry, a past president of MAHPERD/SHAPE Michigan passed away recently. Doug was very involved in the Health and Physical Education profession and in recent years was a coordinator at Wayne State University. Doug also taught in the Livonia Public School district for many years and was a South Lyon school board member for twenty nine years. Florida was home for Doug and his wife during the winter months where he would work as event staff in Lakeland for the Detroit Tigers.

SHAPE Michigan president elect, Emily Brumbaugh remembers Doug from her days at Wayne State.......Doug Curry was my instructor during my undergrad at Wayne State University. He always set high expectations and helped make sure you met them. He also kept in touch and visited during my student teaching placements in Livonia Public Schools. He was an ambassador and advocate for the Physical Education profession and networked with me when in attendance at MAHPERD/SHAPE Michigan conferences. While he will be missed, I am thankful for the opportunity I had to learn from him. ~Emily (Savickis) Brumbaugh '06

SHAPE Michigan is committed to the provision of programs, products and services that support health/physical education teachers, coaches, recreational specialists and allied professionals in their quest to promote healthy, active lifestyles. We offer professional development, advocacy, funding and networking ALL year to our members. Not a member yet? Need to renew? Invest in yourself, sign up/renew today.

Be a part of Michigan's professional organization for Physical Education and Health. Collaborate, network, and support our profession for only $40.00 a year!

A society in which all individuals in Michigan enjoy an optimal quality of life, through appreciation of and participation in active, creative, health-promoting lives.