Craig Shapiro has been a Health and Physical Education Teacher/Coach for 30 years. He’s married with two children and 3 dogs. Being a teacher was a choice that’s completely shaped his life. Making a difference for students each day is an amazing way for him to spread happiness and wellness.
It was his freshman year at Penn State, and it was then that Craig realized that Business was not for him. That summer, he told his parents that he wanted to take his lifetime in sports to his profession and become an educator. Craig said, “If I can get a job and get paid to exercise and coach, and teach kids about health and wellness, that would be the thing for me.” On top of being a Phys. Ed teacher, Craig coaches cross country, wrestling and track.
Craig deeply believes in choice and voice. “We want kids to enjoy their learning experience… the idea of giving kids choice with exercise or wellness or anything else, really fits their own needs of enjoying what they’re doing.” Craig wouldn’t prescribe a program to a student without understanding their interests and goals. “If you start small with something that kids will be successful at in the beginning, you just build upon it and, then, it becomes much less stressful, easy to do, and it’s super rewarding.”
When preparing for his P3, Craig aimed for joy. All three of his songs reflect the feeling he wants students to have when he’s with them and something that drives his work as well as his professional conversations. As a huge Led Zeppelin fan, it was surprising that he didn’t get the Led out. He thought, instead, of upbeat and dance-oriented songs and things that build people up with positivity. Craig always has music on when his students walk into the gym.
Craig’s nostalgic song brings back the age of rock n roll for our guest. He spoke of the video that accompanies the song and seeing the artist on top of the piano as amazing showmanship. He also shared that everybody knows this song, which made him even more inclined to choose it. He heard it for the first time as a budding teenager. Seeing his energy on stage was contagious, and he was amazed at how this artist got people dancing. Here is Jerry Lee Lewis and Great Balls of Fire:
Craigs identity song reflects how he wants people to feel around him. It’s one of those songs that reminds you that you can make a choice to be happy and optimistic. It makes him think about being happy, feeling motivated and spreading positivity. Another reason he likes the song is that it’s not too serious. He feels that we should be okay to step back and share that it’s okay to allow ourselves to be happy and not let the negative feelings take control. “If we let [happiness] take over our lives, it really does work.” Here is the song from Despicable Me 2, also found on the artist, Pharrell Williams’ album Girls. Here is Happy (Minions included):
Craig loves his job, and he believes that it’s possible for someone to make a shift in their thinking if they are feeling disgruntled about their profession. He referred to a sign outside his office door that says: Show me a happy teacher, and I’ll show you a happy kid. Craig said that the aura you give off impacts others, both emotionally and visually. Teachers can give students the opportunity of becoming more positive and not contributing to their challenges of finding joy in their lives. He doesn’t mean that it’s never okay to be sad, but he does believe that, “Generally speaking, we can train ourselves to be a positive person, especially when we are around children or teens. How we act and how we behave and how we talk is going to directly impact how they feel, how they learn, and their overall experience in school.”
Craig’s pick me up song is one he thinks of as a fun tune. “It’s a great mix and totally exciting.” He asserts that you can’t just passively listen to this song and is sure listeners will end up being swayed by the beat because it’s “that kind of song.” Through our conversation, I recalled that great scene from the movie Old School with Vince Vaughan, Luke Wilson and Will Ferrell involving this song. Craig loves the beat and the mix of sound with the male and female voices. Here is Everybody Dance Now by C+C Music Factory:
If you want to reach out to Craig, you can email him at boomerizzy@gmail.com. You can also find him on Twitter. He loves connecting with people and reaching out. He hopes that people listening to this episode take away his messages of possibility, the power of choice and having a positive outlook.
