Starting the Year Strong + Reflections on Fitness Testing | The PE Huddle

Kick off the school year with inspiration, fresh ideas, and practical strategies to set yourself and your students up for success. In this episode of The PE Huddle, we revisit the "why" behind physical education, explore routines and systems that build meaningful learning, and share ways to create a positive classroom culture. We'll also touch on recent developments in fitness testing and what they might mean for the field. Join us as we set the tone for a purposeful, optimistic, and impactful year ahead. Jason Semanoff is a third-generation educator and past president of SHAPE Maryland with a career dedicated to advancing physical education. He spent 16.5 years as a health and PE teacher before moving into state leadership. Jason now serves as the Director of Comprehensive Health and Physical Education at the Maryland State Department of Education, where he provides guidance and technical assistance to Maryland's 24 school systems and works closely with community partners to strengthen programs statewide. As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Maryland, he prepares the next generation of teachers while staying at the forefront of research and best practices. Jason is passionate about meaningful, high-quality PE and the critical role fitness testing and standards-based assessments play in building physically literate students. Dr. Aaron Beighle (beat-lee) is an internationally recognized expert on physical education and school-based physical activity promotion at the University of Kentucky. With extensive global experience, Aaron regularly collaborates with schools seeking to elevate their P-12 physical education and physical activity promotion efforts. He has written more than 100 research-based and practical articles as well as six books, most notably Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children, now in its 20th edition. He also contributes extensively to Dynamic PE ASAP (dynamicpeasap.com), a leading resource for evidence-based physical education and activity promotion.