Service and Commitment Can Create Change

For the past three years, I’ve had the honor and privilege of serving as a member of the Executive Committee for The Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), formerly the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD). I traveled extensively on behalf of our national organization and attended many state AHPERD and district conventions. These visits were both exhilarating and enlightening, and I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with thousands of outstanding professionals and future professionals in our field. It has been an experience that has changed my world view of our profession.

I discovered that people who attend state and district AHPERD conventions are dedicated professionals who are willing to serve the profession in a variety of ways. I learned that our state associations are strong and host top quality annual conventions. Successful lessons and innovative teaching ideas are shared openly and willingly. I was astounded at the willingness of members to serve as convention planners, officers, presenters, and on committees and task forces.

Our state associations are truly member driven and mission focused. Member driven in that the success of everything done at the state level is due to member efforts usually supported by a part-time Executive Director. These volunteers plan and develop all professional activities occurring at the state level. Without them, the professional development and networking taking place throughout the year would not exist.

Social activist Robert Alan Silverstein wrote, “Some people are fortunate enough to earn their livelihoods in jobs that directly help to create a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. But much of the efforts to make life better for our communities and our world are done by volunteers – people who work for a better world without pay. Volunteers ARE creating a better world, one person and one act of kindness at a time.” It is exactly this that I saw happening at our state conventions and on behalf of all of us who have benefitted from the work of these volunteers, “Thank you.”

I am convinced that our professional associations (state, district, and national) grow stronger when we engage our members as volunteers. When members volunteer they gain a sense of ownership and commitment to the success of programs, products, and services. And people who are committed to serving in organizations become walking advocates for the mission and vision of the profession. Marian Wright Edelson, who founded the Children’s Defense Fund said it best when she stated that, “Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time.” As a physical and health educator, I believe that the dedication to serve our profession and improve the lives of others is one of the strengths of who we are as professionals.

When we volunteer to serve at the state, district, or national level it shows a commitment to excellence and taking responsibility for the direction the organization is headed. When we engage professionally and learn to network and connect with our peers we become more knowledgeable and skillful. Volunteering gives us insight into how professional associations work and the value of membership. As you can tell, I’m a big fan of service and volunteering to enhance professional growth. I think President John Kennedy said it best in his famous inauguration speech when he urged citizens to “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” He clearly recognized the personal rewards we get when we give.

So, as I complete my term on the board of our national professional association, if you are not already professionally involved with your state, district, or the new unified SHAPE America, I encourage you to get involved. The lessons you will learn will help improve your teaching and greatly enrich your job enjoyment. You will feel more excitement and motivation to improve your instructional practice. As we all know, in both our personal and professional lives it is easy to fall into routines, into comfort zones and become resistant to change. Engaging as volunteers and contributors to our professional associations helps keep us energized and focused.

Following my countrywide travels as AAHPERD President, I have come to the conclusion that we are at a crossroads in our profession and can not afford to be set in our ways. We can’t continue teaching the same lessons to our students repeatedly year after year. We mustn’t ignore what is happening around us both nationally and globally without pausing to take a hard look at how we as health and physical educators need to be educating today’s youth. Each day we need to ask ourselves how we can better prepare our students for the world of the future and not the past and providing them the skills, abilities, and knowledge to be active and productive citizens.

Today, our students are facing one of the greatest crises a generation of their age has ever faced. Today’s students could be the first generation to die younger than their parents due to the health consequences of worsening obesity. How did a thriving nation, a leader in the world economy, allow such a thing to threaten our kids? It is time to stop and take pause, and to re-assess our role as educators. And clearly, health and physical educators can play an important role.

President John Kennedy looked at change this way; “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” As an educator it is clear to me that children are our future and if we continue on the same road we have been on in our teaching we will continue to face the same issues with the same results. All of us must be the change we want to see within our schools and work environments. Getting involved with our state, district, or national professional associations is the way for us personally and professionally to move forward.

Change is difficult but essential for the sake of our kids. As John Kenneth Galbraith wrily observed, “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” But I can tell you that as an involved HPERD volunteer from my earliest days as a student, I know that my professional journey has been immeasurably enhanced through service. I’ll conclude with the following thought attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received – only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” I wish you the very best in your teaching career, look forward to seeing you at future professional events, and thank you for all that you are doing for the health and well-being of America’s youth.