Danielle O’Neil, a teacher at Sherwood Elementary in the Springfield Public Schools, was selected as the Missouri Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Society of Health and Physical Educators (MOSHAPE). Before being selected for the honor, she was chosen as the Southwest District (one of nine MOSHAPE districts) Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year. She received the award Nov. 11 at the MOSHAPE convention at the Lodge of the Four Seasons in Lake Ozark.
“In addition to health and wellness I strive to teach my students kindness and understanding with each other,” said O’Neil. “How I treat them matters. How we see ourselves, in the gym, makes a difference.”
As the MOSHAPE Teacher of the Year, she is now a finalist for the nine-state Central District SHAPE America Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year. The person selected as the Central District recipient will then become one of the five finalists for the honor of being selected by SHAPE America as the National Elementary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
She is a 2010 graduation of Houston High School and the daughter of Darrell and Cheryl Pounds.