Spring Hill Elementary PE teacher Rusty Bennett coaches kids to find fun in getting active.
A day spent teaching PE is always a great day for Bennett. The students love visiting the gym, and he loves seeing them.
“When you get to the elementary school, every kid loves coming in here and coming through those doors,” said Bennett. “Just being able to have fun with them all the time has been a joy for me.”
Students play a lot of basketball, soccer, and football, and any type of tag game is always a favorite. PE teachers like Bennett and Natalie Waller, his Spring Hill colleague, build around the classics while teaching to standards and working in new games and activities like pickleball. It’s all about keeping the class flowing and fresh.
“We want you to try it because, if you try it and understand how to play the game, you may end up liking it,” said Bennett.
Bennett is a Fayette County product, born and raised, who graduated from Sandy Creek High. Sports have always been a huge part of his life, including taking him to play baseball at Georgia State University and a successful career in coaching.
“I can’t really remember a year when I wasn’t involved in sports as a player or coach or a dad.”
The lessons he learned playing sports helped build the man he is today. He thinks back to his Sandy Creek coach Rodney Walker who said, “I”m not just teaching you football, I’m using football to teach you about life.”
“They helped shape my work ethic, not only on the athletic field, but also in the teaching field and, in all honesty, in being a good dad and husband,” said Bennett.
He was a high school baseball coach for nearly 20 years, including a run with Whitewater High as one of the state’s best teams. With 3 boys at home, he decided he needed to rearrange his priorities. He can still scratch the coaching itch with special camps and leading his kids’ teams, but wanted his focus to shift elsewhere.
“I was missing a lot of the stuff they were doing,” he said. “I just didn’t want to look back and they get out of school and I missed all of them growing up.”
The transition to the elementary school level has been refreshing, and his goals have changed over his education career. Early on, the focus was on teaching as a means to be able to coach baseball. Now, his passion is making a positive impact on his young students. Not every student has great role models at home, and Bennett wants to show them he always has their back.
“That’s the biggest thing: What can I do to make their day awesome? What can I do to make their day be great?,” said Bennett. “That’s what my why is when I come in every morning.”
“The Honor Role,” an official podcast for Fayette County Public Schools, features employees, rotating through key stakeholders, including teachers, staff, nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers. Join us as we dive in and learn about their journeys, their inspirations, and their whys.
Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and promoted on the social media channels of Fayette County Public Schools.
Episodes will also be available here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2200811.
Posted 9/3/2024
