New Health Teacher Has Already Been Honored By Peers

By Laurie Borst

Annmarie Lohan, a first-year health teacher at Newtown Middle School, comes highly recommended. She recently received two awards for which she was nominated in 2005. The Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) recognized Ms Lohan as the Outstanding Student Major and Outstanding Future Professional.

Ms Lohan’s professors at Western Connecticut State University nominated her to represent WCSU Health Education students at the CAHPERD state conference held in Cromwell. The state conference then nominates two students to represent Connecticut at the Eastern District Association (EDA) conference. At the EDA event, held in Hartford this year, Ms Lohan was named the Outstanding Future Professional.

Nine state associations participate in the EDA. Each state nominates two students. These 18 students created a presentation on group activities for school children.

“It was interesting to see what was going on in other states, like Maine, Delaware, and Pennsylvania,” Ms Lohan said.

She stated both conferences had amazing seminars on how to get kids involved in health education with lots of fun, hands-on activities.

Ms Lohan spent her early years in Queens, N.Y., moving to Brookfield in the eighth grade. After high school, she attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. During that time, she had an externship as a chef in a New Orleans restaurant. Most recently, she was a sous chef at The Inn at Newtown.

While she enjoyed working as a chef, she had a growing interest in becoming a teacher. At first, she thought she would like to teach physical education. Ms Lohan took an anatomy and physiology class at WCSU. It was then she discovered the health education program at Western, and fell in love with the program.

“I loved the experience at culinary school,” she stated, “but going back as a non-trad, I got so much more out of it.”

During the four years she spent at WCSU, Ms Lohan had the opportunity to volunteer on a couple of occasions. One summer was spent in Neon, Ky., working with a group similar to Habitat for Humanity. Last fall, she was doing her student teaching at Danbury High School when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck.

With her interest in health and her past experience in New Orleans, she felt very strongly that she should help. She worked it out with her professors and the people at Danbury High, who were all supportive of her plan, so that she could go down to the Gulf Coast for several weeks.

“Obviously, it was an amazing experience,” she said. “I helped delivery food and load trucks with supplies. Whatever needed to be done.”

Now she is happily teaching health at Newtown Middle School. She sees all 900 students in the seventh and eighth grades. Health, tech ed, family and consumer science, Project Adventure, and computer applications are all part of the rotation schedule at the middle school. Students take one of the courses for 15 classes. Ms Lohan sees a group of students twice a week for approximately eight weeks, then a new group comes in.

“I get to know all the students,” she said. “There are lots of topics to cover so it’s very interesting.

“The students here are just great,” Ms Lohan continued. “They are creative and enthusiastic. Newtown parents value education and it shows.”

Ms Lohan reported that from the interview process on, everyone she has met in the Newtown school system has been supportive and welcoming and has helped her adjust to her new job. “Everyone’s door is always open,” she said with a smile.

While she is the only health teacher, she is not alone. The rotation teachers work together as a team. Judy Blanchard, district health coordinator, has been a great mentor to her, said Ms Lohan. First year teachers participate in the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program and are paired with mentors in their subject area.