Every day for 33 years, Ms. Rose has worked to make P.E. an enjoyable and inviting period for her students.

“I need to present something that will be new to the students, something that will hopefully be fun for them, and something that they can take away and do as they’re getting older,” Ms. Rose said.

When she first became a P.E. teacher, Ms. Rose had a different teaching style. Many students believe that she was always easygoing, but that was not the case. She used to be strict, often scolding students for not changing out on time.

“I used to be really uptight if someone didn’t dress out, and I took it personally. [The first] version [of myself] would say, Get in here, get dressed, and get out on your number now,” said Ms. Rose.

Today, Ms. Rose has a positive attitude when it comes to teaching P.E. She enjoys seeing people be active like she is.

“I absolutely love it. I like to see people move, I like to see people learn new activities, kind of like how I’m doing with my life,” Rose said.

Ms. Rose believes that having a good sense of humor and being lighthearted is crucial to building the foundation for close student-teacher bonds.

“I think the first thing is that [you] have to have a sense of humor, and not take things so seriously. I think they have to be relatable, and [you] have to figure out what [the students] are into and be able to relate their lives with your life and go from there,” she said.

Ms. Rose also knows it can be a struggle to connect with some of her students. Because they can be unpredictable, it can be difficult to understand and relate to them.

“The hardest thing about engaging with my students is that they do some pretty random things, and I try to understand that. The hardest part is relating to all the things they’re into. I have to find something in common, and sometimes we don’t have anything in common,” Ms. Rose said.

Ms. Rose’s personality frees her up to engage students without the typical restrictions of a classroom teacher. She also enjoys having the freedom to wear more comfortable clothes while working, instead of having to dress formally.

“I get to talk to all students; it’s not like I just have one class that I’m confined to for the year. I get to meet all kinds of students, and that’s probably the best part [of being a P.E. teacher.] [I love] coming to school in tennis shorts, t-shirts, and being comfortable in tennis shoes,” said Rose.

Few students know the real reason why Ms. Rose started her career. Playing sports was something she always loved to do. She has had a coaching mindset for years, established early on with neighborhood football and baseball teams.

“It was all I really liked to do. I grew up playing a lot of sports, I had a lot of neighborhood kids, and I would practice playing football. I was their coach for football, at least in my head,” she said.

Ms. Rose has also mastered the little things needed to teach PE, though it can be different for each generation of kids.

“I feel like I have finally learned what I need to do to get kids moving…how to do all the little things like giving out lockers. I’m down to a routine. But it’s hard because things are changing, and I want to change with it,” said Rose.

A lot of students have shorter attention spans, and students struggle to stick with an activity for more than a week before becoming disinterested.

“When I first started [teaching P.E], I had to teach long units, so you might [play volleyball] for three weeks in [one location]. Now, we’re down to where attention spans are a little bit different. So, we go from one activity to the other [since] kids complain when we’re on an activity for more than two days,” Ms. Rose said.

Ms. Rose also thrives on athletic activity and wants her students to mirror her love for exercise.

“I [enjoyed] being active, and so when I get to school, I expect everybody else to be active, just like myself,” she said.

Ms. Rose has made an impact on Day Creek’s PE program, and we hate seeing her go. As an influential teacher, she will leave behind a legacy once she’s retired

What will she leave behind? Something we’ll not soon forget: “A phenomenal playlist of music, and dance moves!” she said.