The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
From Wednesday, Oct. 23 to Friday, Oct. 25, PSU’s Health, Human Performance, and Recreation (HHPR) Department held the 99th Annual Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (KAHPERD) Convention in the Student Recreation Center.
The three-day convention consisted of fields such as physical education, exercise science, dance, and recreation, where the professionals and students come together do discuss the best practices, advancements, and the traditional methods still used within those fields. There was a tentative schedule that included workshops, guest speakers, and activities.
Associate professor Cole Shewmake provided help coordinating this event as the on-site manager
“My first-year teaching (at PSU) in 2014, we hosted the convention,” Shewmake said. “As a student, I went to a couple as well. I’ve attended about six.”
The event welcomed students to absorb all of the information and take the opportunity to network.
The convention consisted of professionals that take the information back to their agencies and apply the methodologies. These professionals are also looking to connect with the students and possibly provide job opportunities.
“We encourage our students to come and get involved,” Shewmake said. “It’s a good way to network and look for potential jobs.”
Some of the workshops and activities involved material for K-12, higher education, and future professionals. They addressed things such as, ‘Effective Communication Techniques for Teachers,’ ‘Avoiding Litigation on the Playground and in P.E.,’ ‘Building Personal/Social Responsibility in Phys Ed,’ and more. While those seem to be more lecture heavy, they also have more physical engagement segments such as, Zumba, College Bowl, and dances to implement into curriculums. Along with that, there was the President’s Social Appreciation Awards and Recognition followed by the reception.
With this being the 99th convention, there are always things that are tweaked and kept. Shewmake would like to see a few alterations in the future.
“I’d like to see the focuses of physical education branch out a bit more,” Shewmake said. “I can see this grow even more to help those students as well. Its good information for students and professionals to have.”
KAHPRED states that they provide a wide array of opportunities to improve your knowledge, strengthen your teaching skills, and increase your confidence to become the best professional possible. Having this annual convention is one way that they do that. They also have programs such as the Move to Give- Fundraising Initiative and they partner with national and state organizations for schools to use.
This convention is very resourceful to those in the related fields, but the students as well. Being able to host the event at PSU gave the students the opportunity to advance their knowledge even more and possibly set themselves up for positions in the future after graduation.
The convention rotates around pretty well. The locations are based off the bidding process and evaluations of the facilities at the locations. Emporia, Washburn, and Fort Hayes are some of the other schools that have hosted in the past. The 100th Annual KAHPRED Convention will be held at the University of Kansas.