M. Leanne White, Daniel Casey and Sorrell Harvey awarded
By Tonya Ogden
For the St. Louis American
For the fifth year in a row, the St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Public Schools honored the best physical education teachers in the district with an awards and recognition program at Rams Park. The ceremony was held on Saturday, June 11 from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. with friends, family and colleagues of the award winners in attendance. The recognition began with a reception and was followed by a formal program in which Bryan Burwell, sports columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports, served as the keynote speaker.
This year’s recipients were M. Leanne White of Peabody Elementary School, Daniel Casey of Busch Academic and Athletic Academy (AAA) Middle School and Sorrell Harvey of Roosevelt High School. Each teacher will receive a $1,000 cash award and $500 for professional development and/or to purchase equipment for his or her classroom along with two plaques, one for the teacher and one to display at the teacher’s school.
Flint Fowler, St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education member and executive director of Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club of St. Louis, also acknowledged that P.E., music and arts teachers are often overlooked, but are necessary in developing well-rounded individuals.
In accepting her award, White told a moving story about how one of her students wanted to be a part of the flag football team but, because of academic and behavioral problems, she could not put him on the team outright. Taking into consideration that he was the oldest of five siblings and played a large part in their development, White decided that she would appoint him as team captain, so long as he acted responsibly and took his grades seriously. The student made the commitment and made a marked improvement, and the team ended the season in second place.
The middle school P.E. teacher recipient, Daniel Casey, has been at Busch AAA for fifteen years. He said that although he had taught at places outside of the St. Louis Public Schools, the district held a special place in his heart. Casey also acknowledged his former principals who were in attendance, Tom Stenger and David Cook. Stenger currently serves as administrative director of the Parsons Blewett Memorial Fund, one of the funders of the P.E. Teachers of the Year Award. Cook is athletic coordinator for the St. Louis Public Schools.
Prior to becoming a P.E. teacher five years ago, Sorrell Harvey had been in corporate America. He said that he loves his second career because he can be “a coach, mentor, and friend” to his students. Despite experiencing a death in his family this week, Harvey and his entire family were in attendance at the event.
Throughout the ceremony, the importance of P.E. teachers to a student’s development was emphasized. Michael Yarbrough, manager of Community Outreach and Player Involvement for the St. Louis Rams admitted that although he was bad at remembering names, particularly those of his teachers, he could recall the name of his every P.E. teacher and coach.
Burwell acknowledged that today’s P.E. teachers were teaching and developing people who would be replacing him in 15 years. He also said, “If the world measured a person’s accomplishments or career by their relevance, the Cardinals and Yankees wouldn’t be pulling in 51,000 people.” Instead, those people would be recognizing their teachers at events such as this one.
