Meet your new President. Her name is Heather Chewning and she teaches at Sunnyside High School in Tucson.
Heather grew up dancing, playing outside, and running around the farm. According to Heather this is where she developed her passion and love of play and being active. In high school she participated in Track and Field where she developed a love of running.
Heather earned her undergraduate degree from Eastern Washington University and decided that she wanted to become a Health and Physical Education teacher so she could get students loving movement at an early age. Throughout her time at Eastern Washington she coached high school track and taught ballet at a local studio to continue sharing her passions. During her senior year they started a Physical Education Club at Eastern Washington and was an Inaugural board member during the 2006-2007 school year. Heather also served on an Advisory Council that worked with local teachers to find out what they needed new teachers to know as they prepared to change and revamp the Health and Physical Education program to make it even better at Eastern Washington University.
Heather received her Masters Degree from Gonzaga University in 2011. She wanted to get her Masters in Sports and Athletic Administration so that she would have a better understanding of how to run a Physical Education program or a professional Sports team. Her classes were very hands on with lots of real world experiences.
Shortly after graduating from Gonzaga she moved to Arizona to continue her career as a teacher and Track coach. Heather is currently teaching full time for her 7th year in Arizona. She has taught at both the elementary and secondary levels and has also serve as a mentor teacher in her district to new Physical Education teachers.
The biggest goal that Heather would like to implement is expanding our Health and Physical Education organization throughout the entire state. “We have a large group in the Phoenix area but it would be so beneficial if we can grow it to the other areas of the state as well”, states Heather. It would be a great asset to our organization if we were represented across the entire state of Arizona!
Please feel free to contact President Heather Chewning with questions and suggestions at [email protected].