Pacific Trails Middle School - San Diego, California

Physical educators like Austin Olson, who is in his 20th year of teaching at Pacific Trails Middle School in San Diego, California continue to make a positive impact on countless students for so many reasons - passion, the importance of PE, imparting knowledge, and motivating students to be active for a lifetime. Austin has continued to be on the forefront of innovation in PE which later led to him being awarded District Teacher of the Year in 2024 by the Society for Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) America. 

One such innovation was introducing technology into physical education. “I first was introduced to heart rate monitors at the California PE conference, CAHPERD in 2018. I was intrigued that students could get instant feedback on their own bodies,” Austin said when asked why he was attracted to using Heart Zones in his school. 

As a positive role model, Austin uses innovative ways to teach and adding Heart Zones to his program was the best fit for what he wanted to accomplish. He explains, “This generation of students is all about technology. Teaching them how to do proper heart rate training is a tool they will have with them for the rest of their lives.”

Knowing that every student learns differently, he shares that when using the Heart Zones Move  Solution software application, “I really want them to notice how their bodies feel when they are in different heart rate zones. It is fun for them to guess what zone they are in to see if they are correct. Some students also love to see how many FIT Points they can earn in a class.” The software stores, calculates, and reports on MVPA, moderate to vigorous physical activity, as well as measures the individual student's training load and the amount of exercise using FIT points, which stands for Frequency, Intensity, and Time.

“I think it is important to make everything we teach relevant to our students. Understanding how your body reacts to exercise is extremely important. I don’t want my student to have to hire a trainer for them to get into shape, I want them to have the knowledge,” which is but one of Austin’s many outcome goals.

Austin uses SEL, social and emotional learning in most of his lessons. He explains how he uses SEL in his classroom, 

“We teach to the whole child. Every week we teach social emotional learning (SEL) lessons that have different topics that we constantly talk about during the year: stress, anxiety, sleep, healthy relationships, warning signs of toxic relationships, sneaky sugar, self-defense, and more. On our block days, we expose our classes to many different activities with the hope they will find some that they can do for a lifetime. We do a lot of peer evaluations on our campus because we are BIG on becoming the Best Version Of Ourselves! We also make sure our lessons are Fun, Engaging, and Relevant.”

A remarkable physical education teacher, everyday Austin makes a significant impact on the lives of his students by serving as a fit role model and by deploying his creative and innovative methods. It was Austin's work with Heart Zones and social emotional learning that earned him the honor of 2023 California Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, awarded by the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD). Austin was again recognized the following year by SHAPE America as the 2024 SHAPE America Western District Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year. As a distinguished and experienced physical educator, Austin has some final thoughts to share with you:

“Too many PE teachers think their job is to make kids fit. I think we need to teach them the importance of being fit and give them opportunities to play and find what motivates them to move. Studies show that forced exercise doesn’t have the same benefits as if you are wanting to move.”