Congratulations to the 2023 National Teachers of the Year!

Randy Spring
White Bear Lake, MN

Q: What excites you the most about being a National Teacher of the Year?

A: To give back to a profession that has given so much to me. Being a National Teacher of the Year is a complete result of other educators sharing their passion in such a way it opened my heart and mind to daily curiosity and reflection. It’s a blessing to have an opportunity to pay it forward.


Q: What advice do you have for other educators?

A: Seek out as many opportunities as possible to connect with, learn from, and grow with like minded and passionate professionals across the country/globe. My greatest growth as an educator occurred because of authentic conversations and connections I’ve made with others through conferences and social media.


Q: How do you stay motivated and inspired?
A: My goal as an educator is to make my students feel seen, heard, and understood through purposeful play, each and every day. If they feel seen, they feel loved, if they feel loved, they may be inspired to use my teaching to build skills to want to do the exact same for others outside my classroom.

Q: What are 3 pieces of equipment could you not live without?
A: Our program lives and breathes off of GOPHER’s 28” Rainbow Vinyl Cone Sets, their 19” diameter Rainbow TopSpot sets, and their Rainbow Team BucketStack sets.

Q: What are your favorite teaching resources to use?
A: My practice, passion and impact is fueled by a projector, GIF infused Google Slides lesson plans, and Twitter. All three of these resources have allowed me to efficiently implement my instructional ideas in very intentional and meaningful ways for my students.

Matthew Bristol
 Essex Junction, VT

Q: What excites you the most about being a National Teacher of the Year?

A: The opportunities that are provided to connect with other professionals and share my passion. 

Q: What advice do you have for other educators?

A: "Connection is the content in education and in life." Take time to connect with yourself, students, and colleagues. Provide opportunities for students to connect with each other. Provide meaningful learning experiences for students to connect with. Develop connections that lift you up and inspire you. 


Q: How do you stay motivated and inspired?
A: I stay motived and inspired by staying connected with the health and physical education community. The friends and connections I have made in this profession inspire me everyday. 

Q: What are 3 pieces of equipment could you not live without?
A: Foam ball or playground ball, hula hoops, Bluetooth speaker

Q: What are your favorite teaching resources to use?
A: Twitter, other professionals, cbhpe.org, OPEN phys ed 

Jordan Manley
Lexington, KY

Q: What excites you the most about being a National Teacher of the Year?
A: The SHAPE America Teacher of the Year program is super reflective in nature, so I've already learned a lot through this process, but I'm most excited to use this opportunity to travel the country to meet and learn from the brilliant Health and Physical Educators in our country.

Q: What advice do you have for other educators?

A: You can change the game for your kids. Sometimes changing the game means that you become a student's trusted adult, and sometimes it means that you challenge students to think differently about your subject area. No matter how you do it, you are a game-changer. Be yourself and approach every day as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children. 


Q: How do you stay motivated and inspired?
A: I am keenly interested in the user experiences that schools create and offer kids. I am on a journey toward unlocking the potential of my classroom to ignite the passions and interests of my students through meaningful experiences. 

Q: What are 3 pieces of equipment could you not live without?
A: Pop Up Badminton/Pickleball Nets, Poly Spots, Disc Golf Targets

Q: What are your favorite teaching resources to use?
A: miMove App, Chat GPT, Twitter, YouTube, Goosechase, Canva, PLT4M, Dynamic PE ASAP, OPEN Phys Ed, SPARK, Geocaching App, Design Thinking Kits

Sammi Stewart
Newbury Park, CA

Q: What excites you the most about being a National Teacher of the Year?

A: What excites me most about being Teacher of the Year is the ability to use this platform to advocate for inclusion. Also, to share my experiences with others.

Q: What advice do you have for other educators?

A: My advice for educators is to develop relationships with your students and families. Also, create meaningful lessons that you would have wanted to play as a child. 

Q: How do you stay motivated and inspired?
A: Staying connected to fellow educators on socials and conferences also keeps me inspired. I love seeing what others are doing, and then taking it and making it my own. Why reinvent the wheel when there’s so much creativity and so many great products and ideas? Furthermore, attending a variety of professional development conferences and gatherings helps me stay abreast of changing regulations and new technology and programs that keep us on the cutting edge. Having the superpower of ADD definitely keeps me motivated and moving forward every day. I love challenges and always try to do something new or make it better than the last time I taught it. My “why” is my children. My oldest adult son has an intellectual disability along with other disabilities and I take my experiences as a parent and use it to fuel my teaching. I have a special ability to empathize with my parents at the IEP table and in the classroom. When creating my curriculum I’m of course using state/national standards, but I’m also looking into the future and setting my students up for success when it comes to developing skills for functional learning and recreation/leisure that they will continue to utilize for the rest of their lives. My youngest child has ADHD, and I also use my experiences with her in the classroom. Honestly, teaching to every learner (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) and utilizing Universal Design Learning (UDL) is the way to go. Being a proud mom to three amazingly unique kiddos is my why, and advocating for inclusion and UDL is my why!

Q: What are 3 pieces of equipment could you not live without?
A: This is a tough equation because I love having a plethora of equipment at my disposal. The three that I always have on me are poly spots, cones with shields for visuals, and music (not really equipment, but makes a difference). 

Q: What are your favorite teaching resources to use?
A: Great question! For sure, Special Olympics has a vast amount of free resources for educators to utilize. If you haven’t checked out www.generationunified.org or www.resources.specialolympics.org y’all are missing out. Additionally, I love OPEN PE (FREE) and Spark. Teacher Pay Teachers is another great resource!!! Lastly, social media is where a lot of awesome teachers share great lessons and ideas.

Melissa Quigley
Annapolis, MD

Q: What excites you the most about being a National Teacher of the Year?

A: It is giving me the opportunity to meet so many excellent teachers around the US to learn from them. 

Q: What advice do you have for other educators?

A: Teachers should take time to reflect upon their lessons and adapt them as needed for their student population. Every school is different and making lessons your own so that they fit your school and students is very important. 

Q: How do you stay motivated and inspired?
A: My why is my three teenage daughters. I see how they are navigating health in our society first hand and it helps me adjust my teaching to make sure my students have the skills they need to navigate their health throughout their life. 

Q: What are 3 pieces of equipment could you not live without?
A: Disc cones, bean bags and foam balls. I teach both in the classroom and in the gym and they are the most versatile in creating games and team building activities. 

Q: What are your favorite teaching resources to use?
A: Any team building activities. Relationships with your students is so important and working on that throughout the school year will make it a successful school year. 

Congratulations to the 2023 District Teachers of the Year for adapted physical education, dance education, health education, and physical education!


About the SHAPE America Teacher of the Year Program

Shining a spotlight on outstanding health and physical education teachers across the country

Gopher is excited to partner with SHAPE America to recognize outstanding teachers and support the Teacher of the Year program.

This program recognizes teachers at a district and national level in six categories:

  • Physical Education — Elementary
  • Physical Education — Middle School
  • Physical Education — High School
  • Adapted Physical Education
  • School Health Education
  • Dance Education

Gopher is a member of the SHAPE America Teacher of the Year Partner Network along with SPARK, Wellness Training Specialists (WellTrain), and Goodheart-Wilcox Publisher. Our mission is to support District and National Teacher of the Year winners. We are dedicated to providing opportunities for these teachers to share their successes and journey to becoming Teacher of the Year.

“Each of us has been inspired by an outstanding teacher — and the impact they have had on us is remembered for a lifetime. Gopher is proud to support a program designed to recognize educators and their tireless efforts to help their students succeed. In collaboration with SHAPE America and the other exceptional partners involved in this program, we look forward to sharing the stories and successes of these excellent educators in hopes that it inspires and impacts the entire health and physical education community,” said Gopher Vice President of Marketing Matt Ginskey.

Learn more or apply for the Teacher of the Year program >>