About the Instructor: This is my 15th year of being a Physical Education teacher at the Middle School/High School level. I have been a teacher in this building for 14 years and am excited to be apart of the first staff for the Barack Obama School of Social Justice. This marks my 19th year teaching overall in Yonkers Public Schools. I’ve taught Physical Education for grades PreK to twelve.  I have a Bacehlor's Degeree in Physical Education from SUNY Cortland. I also have a Master's Degree from the University of New England. Besides loving what I do for a living I also am a Varsity Assistant Football Coach at Harrison High School in Harrison, NY.  Prior to coaching at Harrison I coached football at Scarsdale High School for six years and Gorton High School in Yonkers for the seven years prior to that.  Coaching football is a love of mine that is only out weighed by teaching and more importantly my family.  Speaking of family, I have been married to my beautiful wife for 12 years and we have two amazing children together. 

About Physical Education: According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), physical education is the foundation of a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program. It is an academic subject characterized by a planned, sequential K–12 curriculum (course of study) that is based on the national standards for physical education. Physical education provides cognitive content and instruction designed to develop motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for physical activity and physical fitness. Supporting schools to establish physical education daily can provide students with the ability and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. 

There are many benefits of physical education in schools. When students get physical education, they can:

• Increase their level of physical activity.
• Improve their grades and standardized test scores.
• Stay on-task in the classroom.

Increased time spent in physical education does not negatively affect students’ academic achievement.