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Faculty members who play together stay together
By John Young
 Our school district is on a physical activity crusade, and I couldn’t
be more pleased.
You’re looking at one of the biggest supporters of public schools, but prior to this crusade, I couldn’t have been more disappointed, and vocally critical, of the physical aspects of my sons’ public education back when they were in school. Their physical education classes had neither of the criteria in their title. Their P.E. “facilities” facilitated sedentary time if rain fell or wind blew. (They had no gymnasiums in grade school back then.) And too often recess got the kiss-off at the expense of other embraces, including group punishment.
Much has changed since, and good for us. All of the elementary schools in Waco now have gymnasiums, for instance. And the district recently announced a big push to promote recess and physical activity.
I’m here to say that people who discount the importance of these things are absolutely out of it. Letting children blow off steam and recharge is simple classroom crowd control. Letting them run and play is good physical fitness. Letting them have some not-organized time allows for socialization and the building of friendships.
Each is good for education.
And here’s another thing about recess: It’s good for teacher retention.
We hear all the time about the teacher shortage. Instead of pushing to produce more teachers, maybe we should spend time and energy finding ways to keep the teachers we have. I thought of one way the other day.
The idea came to me while walking the dogs at my sons’ first school — Meadowbrook Elementary. I was standing on the levee that ran along a brook at the edge of the school grounds. That’s where, in Mrs. Johnson’s fifth grade class, if you really booted the kickball, you’d cause your classmates to chug up the incline to chase it.
The thing is, if Mrs. Johnson kicked it, you’d better be standing on the berm or the creek might get it.
Mrs. Johnson — Norma Johnson — loved kickball with my son’s classmates. Actually, “loved” understates it. She was like a golden retriever after a water-soaked ball. She didn’t just kick. She ran the bases. And this wasn’t someone just out of college. This was the senior faculty member and one of Waco’s best teachers.
For all the great things imparted with her fifth graders, I’m betting my son’s most vivid memory is of Mrs. Johnson, in her dress, pulverizing the ball with her foot and ending up on second base. Talk about bonding, and cardio for the otherwise desk-bound.
Yes, recess for teachers as well as students. Whatever we do in our intense work regimens, a break helps. I know: Monitoring the kids as they scream and frolic on the playground isn’t exactly a break. It is, however, a break from being the object of everyone’s attention.
I’d suggest that teachers find a way to exercise with the youngsters — form a walking group with those amenable. Play hopscotch. Shoot a basketball. Kick a soccer ball.
I just know how much it invigorated Mrs. Johnson, and how it thrilled
her students.
Now, what was I saying about teacher retention? Shortly after she taught my eldest son, Mrs. Johnson retired. But a couple of years later, she returned.
She couldn’t stay away from Meadowbrook. She teaches there today. No doubt the root of this decision is that she loves teaching and kids that much.
But if the kickball is what brought her back, well, hurray for kickball.
JOHN YOUNG is the opinion editor and a columnist for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He also is the author of “Ghosts of Liberals Past.” He can be reached at jyoung@wacotrib.com.
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