For more than 20 years, Doug Hicks has taught countless aspects of wellness to New Albany students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Hicks describes the class as a combination of physical education and health, but with a little extra.
“It's more diverse and inclusive,” he says. “We do a lot of social interactions, cooperative activities.”
Hicks began teaching in New Albany in 1998, just as the school’s wellness program was being revamped. He worked with fellow teachers Jim Joseph and Jonathan Braund to build the curriculum. Braund, who works with children with special needs, was able to integrate those students’ needs into the curriculum as well.
Hicks teaches four kindergarten classes a day, and two classes with fourth-graders alongside Joseph. In the lessons, Hicks strives to build the “champion triangle.”
The first leg, he says, is self-direction and being involved. The second leg is caring, kindness and being a good sport. The final leg, completing the triangle, is working to develop leadership skills.
“(The lessons are) active and cooperative and fun games for kids to get along and build their skills,” Hicks says. “We try to get them to have self-control in their movement.”
Through the lessons, he says, kids develop skills to problem-solve on their own.
The problem-solving skills are taught to the children with the simple formula of E (event) + R (response) = O (outcome). The lessons strive to build up what Hicks calls “champion confidence.”
The care put into the lessons is what makes the classes so successful for New Albany-Plain Local Schools.
Scott Emery, director of elementary education, says the classes offer far more than physical activity.
“While the classes are active and fun as a child would hope for when visiting the school gym, our teachers go beyond physical education and into promoting proper nutrition and a healthy lifestyle,” Emery says.
Hicks describes the lessons as 40 minutes of organized chaos.
They begin with a “champion talk,” where he lays out the day’s lesson plan. Next, the class gets moving with a jog to warm up, then has “explore time,” in which students are able to freely play with equipment. This can be tossing a ball, twirling a hula hoop or even juggling scarves.
“This is their time to work with an activity in a safe way and try and develop skills on their own without me or always being coach-led,” Hicks says.
The lesson continues with a cooperative activity for fitness. Then the class participates in a game-type activity, like a traditional physical class. They finish up with a cool-down and words of affirmation from Hicks. After 40 minutes, the next class enters and the same lesson starts again.
Hicks always had an interest in becoming a teacher, and through his class, he’s able to combine his interest with his passion for sports and fitness.
“I had some tremendous teachers and coaches when I was young,” he says. “(I thought), ‘I could see myself doing that.’ That guided me, and the connection with sports and kids in general. You start to learn the influence of great teachers and great coaches. It's what I wanted to do.”
Hicks was raised in Gahanna, and while growing up, he was an active student athlete. He ran track, wrestled and played football, which he continued to play as a college student at Ohio University, where he studied health and physical education. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Ashland University in sport and exercise science.
Hicks began his career at Columbus Academy, where he taught health, physical education and an exercise physiology program in high school and after school. He coached football, wrestling and track before moving to New Albany.
Outside of the classroom, Hicks continued coaching varsity football and wrestling. Most recently, he coached middle school football, but he’s scaled back in order to spend more time with his family.
Hicks’ wife, Mary, works at Huntington Bank. Their two sons, Dalton and Dylan, both attended Kent State University. Dalton played football, and Dylan was in Army ROTC and is now a second lieutenant in the Army. Their daughter, DeLannie, studied biology and biochemistry at The Ohio State University. She and her husband, Trey, have given Hicks his first grandchild, 2-year-old Charlotte.
Hicks believes in the importance of teaching wellness to students from a young age.
“(Teaching wellness) creates that foundation, and then you can add onto that foundation,” he says. “It’s like building a building. We’re trying to build that confidence in students to be able to handle situations.”
Hicks practices what he teaches, benefiting from the principles of wellness every day.
“It’s doing the right things when nobody’s watching, part of integrity, and being a good sport,” he says. “All those overlaps … guided me, these fundamentals of these life skills. Basically, what you learn in kindergarten, some of those things are going to stay with you throughout your life.”
Lindsay Capritta is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
