The author was born and raised in New Prague, Minnesota, where he attended school from primary to high school. He then attended Winona State University, graduating in 2014 with a degree in physical education and health. Throughout his life and education, his family has been very supportive, especially his mother who taught him the values of hard work, understanding others, and accepting things out of his control. In his free time, the author enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, tennis, and family trips to the lake. He has experience teaching physical education and health as well as coaching basketball, which has helped him learn skills like classroom management, lesson plan adaptation, and connecting with students. He is now excited to start his career as a PE and health

1. Professional Autobiography
I was born and raised in a small town just south of the Twin Cities by the name of New Prague,
Minnesota. Never moving a day in my life, it allowed me to find who I was during my early years. I
attended the New Prague School district from New Prague Primary School and continued through and
graduated from New Prague High School in the year 2010. I continued my education further by
attending Winona State University from 2010-2014 and graduated in December of 2014. I graduated
with a BA in K-12 Physical education and School health, with a minor in coaching as well as a DAPE
licensure. Throughout my life, my family has assisted my not only consciously, but cognitively as well.
My mother, Pam, always was my support through the difficult times, and engaged with me during the
positive aspects throughout college. She taught me to value hard work, consistency, and the value of
personable relationships. On the other hand, she taught me the importance of understanding other
peoples’ values, and the importance of accepting things I cannot change.
During my free time, I enjoy being active. These activities can include the following: hiking,
tennis (competitive & recreational), basketball (coaching & recreational), and just being outside with
nature. During high school I was a team captain, all -conference, and all-state nominee for my skills in
tennis for the New Prague Trojans. However, my favorite pastime (although it is still continuing) is a
week-long family trip to Rush Lake in Perham, Minnesota. As a family, we take the second week in June
and spend time in a cabin on the lake. Although it’s meant to be relaxing, we are always busy with
fishing, swimming, tubing, playing cards, or even just sitting by the pool. This is my favorite thing to do
because I am able to spend time with my beloved family, and also shut off all technology and see nature
for what it truly has to offer.
I have been fortunate to observe, and interact with many professionals in the field of physical
education and health ranging from 4th – 12th grade. This helped me tremendously due to the fact that I
was eased into the classroom at a very comfortable pace. I learned a lot about classroom management
while observing specific teachers in their content areas, and then I even lead many classes for both
physical education and health with varying ages. This taught me how to connect with students, what to
do in a crisis of teaching, how to make adaptations for students on the fly, how to adapt a lesson plan
that “isn’t working” or “clicking” for the students in that class, and many more things. For example,
when working with a community health lesson plan, students were to pick up pieces of garbage placed
by the teacher around the room. While they were picking up the garbage, they finally realized that it
was like cleaning up the community, and if everyone pitches in, it goes much faster. Likewise, I have
coached basketball for 7th, and 8th grade boys. This was truly a joy for me, and I found it to be my
passion quickly. Setting up practice plans is no different than setting up lesson plans – in my opinion. If
something in practice wasn’t working, or they didn’t understand, I utilized my skills to adapt the
activity/drill, or even explain it differently so the athletes would understand. It also taught me the
importance in “order of explanation”. I used this a lot in practice, as well as Physical Education class by
setting the students in their positions, THEN explaining and demonstrating the activity. This works well
because if you explain everything at once, they tend to forget.

2. I am excited to start my career as a Physical Education and Health Education teacher in your
district. I can bring in a lot of new ideas for old games in order to engage this generation of students. I
am very adequate in knowledge of technology, and how to import technology educationally in the
classroom. I am a very personable person, and have a wonderful skill of connecting to the students in
my presence. I believe the most important thing in classrooms is the student. The “old” ways of keeping
activities/lesson plans that “work” are a time of the past in my opinion. It’s important to engage
students to a certain extent (based on their age/maturity level) to inform yourself on what they are
interested in learning; or what they already know! By utilizing your students’ knowledge, it will push me
as a teacher to broaden my horizons on subjects I may not know, as well as give the students a sense of
ownership – which I find is very important.