Having been teaching in the same district for 23 years now, I have had the pleasure to work with many terrific teachers!  Just like in coaching, many good ideas are "borrowed" from someone else.  One such teacher is Dan Rayome.  I had the pleasure of working with him for a few years.  He is now working at another elementary school in the district I work in.

One winter, we were trying to come up with an idea to kindle some interest in our students staying active.  I had explained to him that we had done a bulletin board project in the past titled: "Spring into Sports."  We had the kids bring in pictures of themselves being involved in almost any kind of outdoor activity you could think of.  We had pictures of baseball players, soccer players, bike riders, dog walkers and almost anything else you could think of.  We were impressed with the amount of pictures that the kids brought in of themselves.  Everyone put their names on the back of the pictures, so we could return them after about a month of display.

Dan immediately thought of another idea along those lines.  His idea was of another bulletin board.  This time it would be titled: "Winter Fun-derland."  The premise would be the same.  The kids would bring in snapshots of themselves.  This time they had to be pictures of being active in the snow.

Initially, the turnout was slow.  after the kids began to see some of their classmates pictures on display, the others began to pour in.  We had over 100 pictures on display for almost a month!  Besides seeing friends on the bulletin board, the display served another purpose.  It generated many conversations between us and the kids about the different options available to them in the winter time.

Some kids who never got outside in the snow heard their friends talk about different sledding hills to go to.  Others who did certain things, heard of other ideas to peek their interest.  All in all, the board was a great success!  It generated interest in staying active in the winter, which was exactly what Dan had intended.

 I hope I am teaching for another 23 years, so I can continue to learn more great ideas from terrific coworkers like Dan.