By Daily Press staff
Mary Hirt, a physical education teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, was recently named the 2003 American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Southwest District Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
After Hirt was named the 2002 California Physical Education Teacher of the Year, her portfolio and resume were submitted to the regional recognition committee for review. Finalists included the top physical educators from California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Utah, and Guam.
Hirt was honored in the Regional AAHPERD conference last Friday in Reno, Nev. She will represent the Southwest at the National AAHPERD conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and undergo a series of interviews and performance reviews to examine how she meets the national standards in physical education and her teaching strategies Hirt is currently teaching 6th grade at Lincoln Middle School and is a professor in Kinesiology at California State University at Northridge. She has been recognized for her outstanding teaching in physical education through the Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator Award program and by her local PTSA as Teacher of the Year.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 20, 2003. Read the original PDF.