PE4life: Grundy Center

We’re fortunate enough to have a number of ROCK STAR physical education professionals on the PE4life team. Combined, they have well over a century of PE experience. Their programs have been recognized in media outlets, big and small. Their programs are innovative, fitness-based and let’s not forget – FUN! We’ll just say it; our Academy Directors are pretty stinkin’ cool. We think it’s time we introduce them to you, one by one, starting with PE4life Academy Training Center at Grundy Center’s very own, Rick Schupbach.

If you geek out on PE the way us PE4lifers do, you’ve probably seen Grundy Center in the news lately. It hosted the 2010 Global Forum for Physical Education Pedagogy, where the Executive Director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports said about Grundy’s PE program, "this is what every physical education class should be like and look like.” So, what makes Grundy Center’s PE program “perhaps the best in the world” as the article states? Well there are a number of things, but we’ll only mention three here (for all of them, check out our Core Principles).

First, support from your administration and community is critical. We have to give another huge shout out to Grundy Center School District's Superintendent, John Stevens. John has been a driving force in Grundy Center's program development. Cass Murra, will be taking over as Superintendent next year. She, too, is extremely supportive of the PE program and will play a crucial role in its future.

Secondly, the use of technology tools to assess students’ fitness levels and progress made. Rick’s program is top of the line in terms of technology and its use of heart rate monitors and assessment equipment. Partnering with Polar and the University of Northern Iowa, Grundy Center Community Schools is home to the Polar Scholars Graduate Program – students from UNI who come to learn the best practices and methods of incorporating technology into physical education.

Rick recently said this about the use of technology in PE. "We are a gadget society. We have to tap into a new way of doing business. The medical field does not perform the way it used to. Teachers in other areas are not teaching the way they used to. It is up to us to use technology to bring science into exercise. We can't afford to be guessing on student activity any longer." (Check out Rick’s 12 Questions for Assessing a PE Program handout from a presentation at a past PE4life Resource Conference presentation for more on assessment.) This leads us to the last criteria – one heck of a PE teacher.

We would have liked to interview Rick on his innermost feelings about his passion for PE, but Rick is a very busy man this week (you know, determining the future of PE with the head of the President’s Council and all. Hey, it ain’t easy bein’ that good!). So, we’ll tell you what we know about Rick Schupbach.

Rick has twenty-six years of teaching experience in Iowa, 21 years in Grundy Center as an elementary Physical Education instructor. In 1993 he was honored as the Iowa Elementary PE teacher of the year. During his tenure at Grundy Center he has presented at numerous conferences and workshops in the Midwest and nationally. These presentations are highlighted by his featured lesson at National PE Day in Washington D.C., and his presentations at the National PE conference in 2005 and 2007. In 2003 Rick’s program at Grundy Center Elementary School was recognized as the 1st Elementary PE4life Academy Training Center in the nation.

Rick pushes for change in the physical education world. He recognizes the need for open-mindedness and innovation and has said this during a presentation “if we continue doing what we have done in the past we will continue to get what we have gotten in the past, to the point of being eliminated from the educational landscape.”

Rick doesn’t just talk the talk. Several years ago, Rick was training for a marathon when he was diagnosed with cancer. His oncologist said that living his profession literally saved his life. If he wasn’t in such good physical condition going into his cancer treatments, the result may not have been so good.

What more can we say? We're so grateful to have you on board the PE4life train! Congratulations on your program's well-deserved success, Rick!