萝莉社

As a freshman gymnast at Kansas State University in 1971, Rick Pappas performed for thousands of people at a time, but one small exhibition at an elementary school changed his career.

Rick was one of 10 performers in the show. The kids took to him right away, and their cheers grew louder every time his coach would introduce him to the stage.

鈥溾�楾hird time, Rick鈥檚 coming up! Here comes Rick!鈥� And I would do a trick,鈥� Rick said.

The kids went wild.

Rick鈥檚 voice rises into a howl as he recalls their cheers.

鈥溾�橸ay Rick!鈥� I mean, screaming at the top of their lungs,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淚 even messed up once and landed on my bottom. 鈥榊ay Rick!鈥� Way over the loudest ovation I ever had with 10,000 people. I had never seen anything like that.鈥�

When the performance ended and the group boarded their bus back to KSU, Rick鈥檚 coach marveled at the kids鈥� admiration for him. He suggested that Rick embark on a career working with children.

Rick was a business administration major. Two weeks later he switched to physical education.

Rick believes that his coach鈥檚 wisdom was a defining moment in his life. He used that example and others to bring his students direction and joy over a vivid, 43-year career spanning from 1976 to his retirement in May.

In Rick鈥檚 elementary school classroom, PE became a way to channel classroom lessons with physical activity. When he began teaching elementary PE at 萝莉社 in 2009, he taught his students the same lesson.

鈥淚鈥檓 trying to get across to them that as a physical education major, they鈥檙e teaching the whole child. It鈥檚 not just in the gym,鈥� Rick said.

It was for this reason that Rick was awarded 萝莉社鈥檚 Excellence in Teaching award this year.

Early in his career, he witnessed a third grade teacher take a student out to the hallway with a soccer ball. She had placed a number on every panel of the ball, and tossed it to the student. Wherever his thumbs landed on the ball, he had to multiply the two numbers.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥業 like that idea. How could I incorporate that into physical education?鈥欌�� Rick said.

Rick won a grant from the Boeing Airplane Co. for the integration of math into physical education and used the money to purchase equipment to develop new activities for the students.

鈥淥ne of the things we did at elementary schools was vowel tag,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淚 found these neat little alphabet vests. All the kids were wearing letters. The consonants were in blue and the vowels were in red. The vowels would try to catch the consonants. When they got caught, they would have to think of a word that began with the letter that they had.鈥�

Rick developed dozens of activities for his students based on his research, fellow teachers鈥� presentations and his own creativity. The activities reinforced math, science, geography and many other topics.

In some cases, Rick made his own equipment. He built 鈥渕agnetic wands鈥� out of craft magnets glued to wooden tongue depressors and had his kindergarten class safely move around the gym to find out what the magnets would stick to.

鈥淲hen someone would find something that would stick to it, and yell, 鈥業t sticks!鈥欌�� Rick said. 鈥淭he whole class would move over there and try it. That鈥檚 something I did this semester with the college majors as well.鈥�

In many cases, his physical education majors performed the same exercises as kindergarteners. Rick struggled teaching traditional college lecture classes, so he began booking the Heskett Center basketball court for every class.

鈥淎 lot of the classes were pretty much hands-on, trying to teach them ways they would teach their students, and break down the skills,鈥� Rick said.

One of his biggest lessons to teach PE majors was that their talents and abilities uniquely position them to have fun with their students. If a teacher can juggle, then let their students see it.

鈥淚t makes connections with students,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淭hat is so much more important to me than the content. It鈥檚 making connections and building relationships with the students.鈥�

Rick emphasizes that a teacher doesn鈥檛 always know the impact that they have on their students. He attempted to foster feelings of belonging and support in his classes in schools and at 萝莉社 through providing experiences that would add meaning to a student鈥檚 life.

Rick found that he could use his experiences as a gymnastics coach to celebrate his students鈥� birthdays. On a student鈥檚 birthday, he hoisted them off the ground and flipped them mid-air. Each student would receive 鈥渂irthday flips鈥� equal to their age.
However, the birthday flips and frequent bodily stresses of PE classes caught up with Rick over the years. He decided to retire in 2019.鈥淭o this day, students in their 40s will remember the birthday flips,鈥� Rick said.

鈥淢y heart wasn鈥檛 ready to give it up, but my body was,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淭he hardest thing for me was not being able to see the current majors I had and new majors finish up.鈥�

Looking back, one of Rick鈥檚 inspirations for his classroom presence is Helen Steiner Rice鈥檚 poetry collection Heart Gifts.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not the things that can be bought that are life鈥檚 greatest treasure. It鈥檚 the little heart gifts that money cannot measure. It鈥檚 things like kindness and support.鈥�

Rick continues to serve as historian and ambassador for the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, through which he mentors current teachers and presents at conferences.

He also hopes to travel to Greece, from which three of his grandparents hailed. It鈥檚 been a lifelong dream.