EDITORIAL
SHAPE America Starts New Era

It's official! The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) is now SHAPE America. New name, new logo, new website. All of the national associations (NASPE, NDA, AAHE, NAGWS, and AAPAR) have been combined into one entity. It wasn't easy but let's hope the new society can refocus on what's important to public school health and physical educators, and try to capture the support of the many thousands of should-be-but-aren't-members.

Why aren't they? That's the Society's challenge going forward: Giving people a reason to join and then continue as member-supporters. All of us are sometimes guilty of letting others do the heavy lifting for us when we should get involved. It can't continue. Has anyone not noticed the threats to cut health and physical education programs and positions? In honesty, we probably deserve what we get if we don't support our national and state professional associations.

But being a member-supporter has a cost. It's not much, but SHAPE America needs to come up with a membership reason-we-can't-refuse. It's a challenge that's just become more personal. At the recent national convention in St. Louis, voters selected me as SHAPE America's President Elect. My son's response? "Remember Dad, with great power comes great responsibility!" Impressive huh? Well it was until he confessed it came from an old Spiderman movie.

National Physical Education Institute Website: www.nationalpe.com July 28-30, 2014 Asheville, North Carolina See the flyer

I'm not sure being president-elect comes with great power, but I confess to feeling a huge personal responsibility. SHAPE America has a 129-year history. Few other organizations of any kind can boast the same. Created in 1885, just 20 years after the end of the American Civil War, four years after Wyatt Earp's shootout at the O.K Corral, and long before the invention of airplanes, 60 individuals ended a day's discussion by agreeing to form a physical education association. Fast-forward to today and now we have close to 20,000 members.

Sounds good until you realize there are probably 10 times that number actually teaching public school health and physical education. Imagine how much more persuasive we would be if everyone supported the group that represents us nationally. There's a reason that AARP (37 million) and the NRA (4 million) wield political clout. Size makes a difference and presently we are woeful underperformers.

Anyway, I anticipate pelinks4u will be doing more to try to persuade those of you reluctant to join SHAPE America to take the plunge soon. Not unexpectedly, I do have a few thoughts about where I think we should be going professionally in the future. I shared them at the convention but after receiving numerous requests (well my kids asked me!) I've included my ideas in this issue of pelinks4u. Additionally, this month we have a lot more to share, in fact a whole heck of a lot more.

Former AAHPERD President Steve Cone gets us thinking with a reflective essay entitled "Are physical educators on the way to extinction?" Steve traces what he refers to as a "malaise in our profession" which he fears could transform us into becoming afterschool physical activity organizers. A little more upbeat, recent AAHPERD Past President Irene Cuchina reflects on her experience of becoming professionally involved since her days as an undergraduate student. We should all be grateful to Irene for her leadership during the recent AAHPERD unification, and if you read her essay you'll see she hasn't lost any of her enthusiasm.

If you've ever pondered the ethical and moral challenges involved in coaching you'll already be familiar with Sharon Stoll's writing. This month, Sharon shares a personal account of what she learned as an athlete and as a coach, and the way in which it transformed her life. Pete Van Mullem complements this with an account of legendary basketball coach John Wooden and the impact he's had on the lives of athletes and coaches everywhere. Pete also contributes with links to the final of a three-part podcast series he organized on various topics related to sports: A great resource.

We conclude with four additional articles targeted at health and physical education teachers. Brent Bradford, Clive Hickson, and Ashleigh Evaniew introduce a novel idea for promoting healthy eating in schools through creating a "Health Hut." Laura Zavatto reminds us that May celebrates National Physical Education and Sport Week. She describes how she celebrates both our profession and the achievements of her students. Isobel Kleinman reflects on something inspirational she noticed following the recent Olympics and gives us reasons to celebrate physical education in 2014. Finally, Phillip Conatser and Ulku Karabulut share practical ideas for ways we can make our classes inclusive for all students regardless of ability.

Have a great end to your school year.

Steve Jefferies, pelinks4u publisher