Lisa Smith and Sarah Gietschier-Hartman join Dr. Aaron Beighle for an energizing episode of the PE Huddle focused on the evolving landscape of secondary physical education. Drawing on their experiences in health, PE, adapted PE, and unified PE, Lisa and Sarah explore how the field is shifting from traditional, sport-dominated models toward more student-centered, meaningful, and inclusive experiences. Their conversation highlights the importance of changing the narrative around PE, creating spaces where students feel safe and supported, and designing programs that engage all learners, especially those who may not have seen themselves reflected in traditional physical education settings.

Throughout the episode, the conversation digs into practical ways teachers can move secondary PE forward, including giving students more voice, choice, and ownership, using the Meaningful PE framework to guide instruction and assessment, and rethinking outdated practices that no longer serve today’s learners. Lisa and Sarah also share honest reflections on disruption, innovation, inclusion, and professional growth, offering encouragement for educators who want to create joyful, relevant, and responsive programs for adolescents. This episode is a thoughtful and inspiring look at what secondary PE can become when teachers are willing to challenge the status quo and center student experience.

Episode Highlights

1. Secondary PE should be more student-centered, not just sport-centered.
A major theme was moving away from the old model of “all sports, all the time” and toward experiences built around student meaning, choice, inclusion, and enjoyment.

2. The profession has changed unevenly.
They argued that there are “pockets” of innovation in health and PE, but the profession overall has not changed as much as it could. Social media once helped accelerate sharing, but now many strong professional relationships happen more directly and personally.

3. “Disrupting practice” means refusing the status quo.
Their view of disruption was practical: create classes where students feel safe, expect productive failure, have choices, and experience PE as something meaningful rather than something done to them.

4. Assessment should give more ownership back to students.
One of the biggest takeaways was their use of the meaningful PE framework, especially asking students what makes physical activity meaningful to them and letting them choose how they reflect and demonstrate learning.

5. Small changes in rules, equipment, and structure can transform engagement.
They stressed that teachers do not need to stick rigidly to official rules. Students can help modify games to make them safer, more fun, more inclusive, and more motivating. Small-sided games and adaptable play often beat traditional formats.

6. Joy still matters at the secondary level.
A standout message was that high school students still want playful, memorable experiences. They even joked that bringing out an elementary parachute would still be a hit. Their goal is for older students to feel some of the same joy they remember from elementary PE.

7. Sustaining good teaching requires community, honesty, and boundaries.
They were candid that teaching is hard: departments can be challenging, classes can be difficult, and burnout is real. What helps is having trusted people, professional community, supportive family, and stronger boundaries around time and commitments.

8. Their advice to new teachers was clear: get involved, give yourself grace, and stay professional.
They strongly encouraged joining state organizations, building connections beyond PE, accepting that growth takes years, and remembering that positive student relationships still require firm professional boundaries.