Students and faculty from the Physical and Health Education Teacher Education (P/HETE) program attended the 85th annual New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (NYS AHPERD) conference from Thursday, November 16 – Saturday, November 18 in Verona, NY.
Current teacher candidates Katie Gawronski and Jacob Lewis along with Meg Willson MS ‘23 were honored as P/HETE Major Award Winners during the Amazing Persons Ceremony on Thursday, November 16. Two undergraduate students and one graduate student are given this award for outstanding performance relevant to his or her preparation for the health, physical education, recreation or dance professions.
Dr. Greg Reeds, PhD
Additionally, four noteworthy professionals received awards for their efforts in K-12 health and physical education. John Strong, Lori Bifarella and Dr. Greg Reeds (pictured above) all took home Amazing Person honors. John Strong and his wife, Kelly, are both alums of Canisius P/HETE and former student athletes. Their son, Jackson, is following in their footsteps as a current student in the P/HETE program while also a standout on the men’s baseball team. Lori Bifarella serves as a student-teaching university supervisor while Dr. Reeds is an emeritus faculty member and long heralded professor at Canisius. Not to be outdone, Kevin Yarnell,who also serves as a student-teaching university supervisor for the P/HETE program, received statewide distinction as NYS AHPERD’s Joy of Effort Award winner.
Submitted by: Dr. Clancy M. Seymour, Associate Professor | Director of Health, Physical Education, & Sport Pedagogy, Teacher Education and Leadership
