Sometimes high school students are hard to deal with in any class. It is especially worse when those teenagers are hyper because the class they are in is physical education, also known as P.E.

Luckily, many people out there love teaching P.E. and decide that is what they want to do with their lives. Powell High School is lucky enough to have not only one but two student teachers helping the regular coaches.

The student teachers have been assigned to work with both P.E. coaches to finish out their schooling in order to become a certified P.E. teacher. Miss. Dana Bjorhus has been working closely with Mrs. Charli Fluty and all of her P.E. classes.

Mr. Darren Ballard is also a student teacher who has been working with Mr. Chase Kistler and his students as well.

Miss Bjorhus said incorporating her love of staying active and working with youth have inspired her to teach P.E.

“I’ve always enjoyed sports, physical activity all that kind of stuff, especially when i was growing up. I was always in the gym or outside doing something physical, so putting that into a career was a pretty cool option,” Miss Bjorhus said. “And over the years, I’ve always really enjoyed working with kids, teaching them and watching them learn something new and to be able to put these together worked out perfect.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Ballard said student teaching has provided a dose of reality of sorts.

“I’ve learned that you have to be ready for a whole day, not just for a specific class,” Mr. Ballard said. “For example at the University of Wyoming, we just had to prepare for one lesson, which was easy because you could put all the time in the world into that one lesson, but here you have to be prepared for six lessons which are back to back.”

There is a huge difference between learning how to do something and actually doing it. Actually performing in a play is different than running through it many times in rehearsal. Teaching is the same way. You learn there are more little details that you must take care of in order to do everything right.

“A lot of the different management or administrative stuff you have to take care of like all the different kinds of grading, attendance, tardies, working with kids health issues or behavioral referrals. You don’t get that kind experience in college and once you actually get here it’s like you actually have real life things to do.”

Powell has been a host to many student teachers over the years in many subjects such as choir, band, and now, physical education. Each year, to school allows student teachers to come in and learn how to properly teach a class, including the lessons, grading, and everything along with it.

“I love Powell. I love that atmosphere and the school,” Mr. Ballard said. “Everyone is just awesome.”

Not only is PHS a wonderful school, according to Mr. Ballard, but the students and staff have been extremely welcoming and have been really helpful to our student teachers.

“This is a great school. All the staff are super helpful for whatever I need. The kids are really great. Going to different places, you never know what the kids are going to be like or how they will react, especially to a student teacher,” Mrs. Bjorhus said. “They could be like, ‘well this is a chance to take advantage of them.’ But the kids have been really awesome, so it makes coming in here every day and it makes me enjoy it a lot.”

Both student teachers that have been working here will soon graduate from student teacher to holding a real teaching job of their own. The reason they are here in the first place is to help them learn how to do that job better to influence the lives of students elsewhere. They will be evaluated by Mrs. Fluty and Mr. Kistler when their student teaching days are done.