A fail-safe system exists at Golf Middle School in Morton Grove to prevent Kevin Atwood from getting big-headed over his status as a Golden Apple Excellence in Teaching award finalist.
“I don’t think the kids care about the Golden Apple — they just care about what they’re doing today,” said Atwood, a 27-year veteran physical education and health teacher at the school, in Morton Grove’s Golf School District 67.
But those students’ attitudes are an important reason Atwood is one of 30 finalists for the Golden Apple, perhaps the state of Illinois’ most prestigious teaching award. Atwood survived the winnowing-down process from a record-setting 732 nominations out of 64 counties.
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Award finalists will be honored on Feb. 22 at the Golden Apple Celebration of Excellence in Teaching & Leadership at the Q Center in St. Charles. Event details and tickets are available at www.goldenapple.org/celebration.
To be recognized for quality and creativity in teaching, Des Plaines resident Atwood has had to change with the times. No longer is PE seemingly rote courses of dodgeball, compelling the clumsy and klutzy to mimic the Olympics on rings and the pommel horse, and nude swimming for boys in high school. With all its embedded negative aspects, PE was a course many students tried to avoid.
In the past three years, Atwood has conducted classes with themes of “mindfulness and meditation.” The goal is to control breathing and relax in stressful situations. In the mornings three days a week, eighth graders practice the techniques in a WIN class – “What I Need.”
Some of Atwood’s students are too relaxed, though.
“Some of the teen-age boys don’t sleep much at night on their phones, so they might fall asleep in class,” he laughed.
Instead of the old-school one-sized-fits-all PE class for students with a wide variety of physical conditioning and athletic prowess, Atwood’s students now wear heart monitors that register on an IPad. They can choose the level of activity to achieve an optimum heart rate and overall conditioning, whether going all out with distance running or just plain walking.
Atwood practices continuing education for himself, updating his knowledge of PE techniques by listening to college professors at conferences at Illinois State. But he never will claim he has nearly all the answers and gives full credit to colleagues.
“I’ve been together with my partner teacher, Chris Bojack, for 22 years,” Atwood said. “We’re applying for our third Blue Ribbon Award for our PE program.
“I think I’ve made an impression. We have a tight-knit staff.”
Atwood and colleagues apparently impressed their students, too. He said several have come back 10 years later to join the Golf faculty.
Atwood had to actively advocate for himself in the Golden Apple nominating process that was a surprise to him.
“After you’re nominated, you answer certain number of questions about your educational philosophies, and times that are difficult in teaching,” he said. “Along with that, they have to see a videotape of a lesson. They need three letters of recommendation: from a co-worker, an administrator and someone outside of the business. I was lucky enough to get those.”
If Atwood is fortunate to be one of the 10 Golden Apple winners, he’ll have no advance notice at all.The 2020 recipients will be notified in the spring with surprise visits at their schools.
Northwestern University, Golden Apple’s partner for more than 30 years, provides a spring sabbatical to award recipients at no cost. In addition, each award recipient receives a $5,000 cash award. They also become Fellows of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, a community of educators who support current and future teachers and deepen the learning of students.
“In honoring and developing K-12 teachers, Northwestern University and the Golden Apple Foundation are committed to improving teaching, learning and the lives of students across the state of Illinois,” said Timothy Dohrer, director of the Master of Science in Education Program at Northwestern University’s School of Education & Social Policy.
Apparently, the type of service to others Golden Apple recognizes has been passed down to another generation in the Atwood family. His oldest daughter, 24, now works with residents suffering from dementia in a nursing home.
