SIUE Alum Herndon is IAHPERD Middle School Teacher of the Year
SIUE alum Matt Herndon is the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (IAHPERD) Middle School Teacher of the Year. Herndon has taught physical education to 6th-8th graders at Lewis & Clark Junior High School in Wood River for the past 16 years.
Herndon will be honored at IAHPERD’s state awards reception Thursday, Nov. 20, at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Ill., during the group’s annual convention.
As the state award winner, Herndon is eligible to apply for the Midwest SHAPE (Society of Health and Physical Educators) Award Teacher of the Year and the Midwest District Teacher of the Year.
In the acknowledgement letter from awards chair Ann Hanson, Herndon was lauded for “providing students with flexible, adaptable and dynamic classroom experiences. You are an example of excellence.”
An East Alton native, Herndon achieved both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SIUE. His bachelor’s in physical education was in 1996, and he followed in 2007 with a master’s in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport management.
“I want to thank SIUE for the great education I got from my former teachers like George Luedke, Nelda Covington, John Baker, Larry Moehn, Larry Kristoff, Myrna Schild and Tasso Kaburakis,” Herndon said. “I got a quality education from some great teachers at SIUE. They pushed me and developed me in to what I am today as a teacher.”
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
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Photo: Lewis & Clark Junior High School Teacher Matt Herndon.
