WELL-BEING MATTERS
Brought to you by Texas Health Community Hope
Well-Being Matters is an ongoing series highlighting different members of our community and their strategies for well-being. Texas Health Community Hope is Texas Health Resources’ unique approach to promoting healthier futures through a broad range of impactful initiatives, investments and collaborations. This month we revisit father-and-son educators Joe Gonzales Jr. and his son, Joe Gonzales III. Both men teach physical education in the Fort Worth ISD where they help families create meaningful and healthful life-long habits. Both are life-long athletes: Joe Jr. played baseball, and Joe III was a cross-country runner. We caught up with the two right before the school year started.
Q: Joe Jr, you’ve been teaching for 24 years. You’ve actually worked at Sam Rosen Elementary long enough to have kids who took PE from you as kindergarteners come back to visit their senior year.
Joe Jr.: It’s my 12th year at this campus. The kids are becoming more active – we’re definitely going in the right direction. I know the families and the communities pretty well. I go to my kids’ graduations and quinceañeras – there’s no better feeling.
Q: Joe III, you still also work as a PE teacher, but last year you changed campuses.
Joe III: I’m at Rufino Mendoza Elementary, about a mile away from the Stockyards. They call our school the Heart of the Northside.
Joe Jr. We’re fortunate to work within a couple of miles of each other.
Q: How do you like the new campus?
Joe III: I love it! It’s a great change because I have older kids (preK-5th). My jokes don’t go over their heads, and I can do more activities to help ingrain fitness and leadership skills.
Q: In elementary school, do students get PE every day?
Joe Jr: Every other day, 150 minutes a week. It’s not enough but it’s a good start.
Joe III: I teach throughout the whole day. In primary school, I only taught three hours a day; the rest was of the day was other duties. I get to do more of what I like here. We have a running club that we’ll start in October. I met the cross-country coach at Northside High School and we’ve collaborated on some partnerships with them. At Mendoza, we have extracurricular football, soccer, and softball. I coached softball this season and it was really fun. It was great to get a pure coaching perspective and not just a classroom perspective.
Joe Jr.: Rosen also has a running club and a softball club. Last year we had a softball game between Rosen and Mendoza. It was Joe Jr. versus Joe III for The Golden Softball. We were fortunate to take the win that first time.
Q: As part of a whole school wellness initiative, you’ve also been getting teachers back into the elementary campus gyms.
Joe Jr.: We’ve been having volleyball games after school in the gym for the staff. It started at Mendoza, and we challenged each other. This is a fun stress reliever for a lot of our teachers. We’re hoping that we can add more schools to the challenge.
Q: What are some other campus initiatives to improve health and well-being?
Joe III: We have a gardening program that Texas Health Community Hope will support this year. Last year we used Texas A&M University’s Agrilife Community Program. We taught parents about nutrition, gardening and brought in subject-matter experts to speak to kids about nutrition. Texas Health Community Hope also did a Recess Refresh at Mendoza, updating our playground to make it look more engaging and functional.
Joe Jr.: Rosen also received a Recess Refresh, plus new gym equipment for each grade level. Each grade received a color-coded bag of equipment for recess. And Texas Health has supported our kids’ academic health as well. They provided a Scholastic Book Fair; the kids get two free books of their choice, any books they want.
Q: Joe III, there was also a technology upgrade that’s assisting you with teaching.
Joe III: At Mendoza, I have a Ben-Q board. It’s like a big TV where I can run PowerPoint presentations. Kids need a visual with their education. Once they see it, they can remember. Currently, the health curriculum is taught in the classrooms but I also supplement that by focusing on muscle groups, bones and healthy foods that fuel the body.
Joe Jr.: I also use this every day for demonstration of a game or an exercise. It’s easy, fun and the kids love it.
Q: At Rosen, you have a special transitional routine for ending PE that actually helps reorient small bodies and their brains out of PE mode.
Joe Jr.: Before it’s time to leave, I play meditation music while we do simple stretches and meditate. Kids have so much on their plates, they need this quiet time. They don’t get enough of it. When I end PE, the kids are so hyped up. This gives them a chance to let their heart rate slow down. The teachers appreciate it.
Q: Joe Jr., as you start your 24th year as a teacher, what’s your favorite thing about what you do?
Joe Jr.: It’s the impact that I have on our kids’ health and fitness. We’re trying to get our community more involved and invested in their children’s health and their own health. Both of our schools had a skate night at Rollerland West this past year. It was a huge success. Our school had over 240 people show up. Plus, working with my best friend, you can’t beat that!
Learn more about Texas Health Community Hope at TexasHealth.org/CommunityHope