Health Enhancement |
|
Being raised on the Stanford University Campus in Palo Alto, California placed a high value on education by my father who was a Dean at the university. When I was growing up, I sometimes took that value for granted and I knew that once I was done with high school, I would NEVER want to be a teacher. How wrong I was!! I became enchanted by Montana after vacationing at a dude ranch every summer for 12 years and then working there as a "kid's wrangler" for a few summers after high school. My job was to teach children, ages 6-9, how to ride horses, and I knew that if I was successful at that, I could teach anyone to do anything! My first seven years of teaching occurred in Miles City, Montana where I gained some teaching experience. I knew ever since I was a kid, that someday I wanted to live and work in a place surrounded by mountains, so in 1991, my husband Keith and I settled with our youngsters in Livingston.
One thing I have learned in my 32 years of teaching is that it takes more than teaching little kids to ride horses to be an effective teacher. It is an ongoing daily process that I am dedicated to, and I plan to continue for as long as I am able. Everyday, when I'm at PHS, I learn something new, whether it is something from the students or just from being in the atmosphere of the school. I continuously work to be a role model for the students in the Health Enhancement area and to encourage and reinforce the concept of a healthy lifestyle. I hope that after they leave my class, they not only understand the importance of making healthy choices and the impact those choices have on their lives immediately and long-term, but that they will be able to actually MAKE those healthy choices in their everyday lives. |
