Amid the rush of students scrambling to change during the designated five-minute limit, I walk into the P.E. office of the girl’s locker room. Ms. Tebow sits behind her desk, finishing up her last task before heading outside.

“Welcome back!” she smiles.

As a former student of Ms. Tebow, I have returned to shadow her as she teaches her fourth period freshman P.E. class. While they are currently in the badminton unit, today is the day for fitness testing.

I follow the students out onto the blacktop, where freshmen, sophomores, and juniors  wait patiently for Ms. Tebow to take attendance. As soon as Ms. Tebow arrives, she instructs the students to sit down as she marks attendance.

“Line up for warm-ups!” Ms. Tebow exclaims, while the forty students get into lines.

As the students group into lines, Ms. Tebow explains to me that P.E. was her favorite class growing up, and she has loved staying active ever since.

“I wanted to allow students to find something they enjoyed about being active, and not just force something on them,” she says. “[Of course, that’s] coming from the perspective that not everyone’s going to enjoy everything, but, you know, doing the best they can with with everything.”

After finishing the routine set of warm-ups (which consists of jogging, strength exercises, and stretches), Ms. Tebow gathers up the class and directs them to go jog two laps around the blacktop. Though some of the students look disappointed, they comply. Walking towards the side of the blacktop, Ms. Tebow observes the students.

As soon as the students finish running, Ms. Tebow leads them into the fitness test room. Since fitness testing requires her to take the height and weight of each student, other physical activities have been put on hold for the particular day. At the room, ten students at a time, based on roll call number, go inside for the testing.

On a typical day, Ms. Tebow prepares an activity for the students.

“Depending on the lesson,” she says, as she measures her students, “sometimes I’ll do research, sometimes I’ll talk with other teachers about what they’re going to do and then a lot of times it’s just starting with the basics and working on skills and then incorporating the games and the activities.”

On block days, students run the BUUM only if the weather permits. Since students may not always want to, Ms. Tebow always has words of encouragement.

“[As long as students] understand the benefits in running and understand that they’re not missing out even if they get a slower time, it would not be something that will hurt you,” says Tebow. “You’re always benefiting from it because you’re doing something.”

Finishing up the measurement of the height and weight of the last student, Ms. Tebow sends the students back to the locker room.

Outside of being a P.E. teacher, Ms. Tebow organizes a running club and takes care of her daughter. She particularly enjoys running, and she is currently on a soccer league.

Since P.E. is a two-year graduation requirement, Ms. Tebow has learned the techniques to teach every type of student. Not all students enjoy P.E. at the beginning of the year, but Ms. Tebow remains positive and encouraging toward students.

“Not everybody’s going to be the same, not everyone’s cookie-cutter, so when it comes to expectations, students are not going to excel at everything,” said Tebow. “It’s just better to understand that everybody’s different.”