GLENVILLE, WV – Senior Glenville State College Health and Physical Education major Jessy Moore recently presented at the 98th Annual West Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (WVAHPERD) Convention in Charleston, West Virginia. Each year, the convention brings together students and educators from across the state and features national speakers, evidence-based discussions, keynote addresses, and more.

Moore’s original presentation began as a project for his Adapted Physical Education course in 2018. After presenting, Moore was encouraged to expand upon his research for the 2019 Pioneer Showcase, a yearly forum for Glenville State College students to present research in several categories. Moore received first place in the non-science category at the Pioneer Showcase and was later asked to submit a request to present at the WVAHPERD convention.

Once accepted, Moore’s research, which began with a PowerPoint presentation, had become a fifty-minute long presentation addressing topics in statistics of students with disabilities in physical education, laws and initiatives related to students with disabilities in physical education, the physical, mental, and social benefits of physical activity in students with disabilities, ways to increase meaningful participation in physical activity for students with disabilities, and more.

He was able to apply experiences from his student teaching to his presentation as well. “When I had created the presentation, I didn’t have much experience dealing with students with disabilities. Since I’ve been in the classroom, I have been able to see what questions a teacher would have and focus more heavily on those topics. Making the presentation also helped me refresh some things in my head that helped me in my student teaching,” said Moore.

“The convention was a lot of fun. I wasn’t expecting there to be a lot of people, but I ended up having a pretty full room by the end of it. I got a lot of great conversation from the crowd who seemed very engaged and willing to learn,” Moore added. “After my presentation, I stayed and watched some other presentations and got to meet a lot of cool people. I met the 2017 Physical Education Teacher of the Year, the President of the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), and a former Olympian who also played basketball for Pat Summit in Tennessee.

I learned a lot that I will look to apply in the classroom and made some good connections with professionals in my field. My experience at the WVAHPERD conference reinforced what I already knew – teachers must be lifelong learners and always be looking to improve at every opportunity because there is always more to learn.”

“This collaborative effort between Jessy and our faculty member, Dr. Jong Yu, represents the spirit of Glenville State College,” said Dr. Jeff Hunter, Dean of Education. “We are ‘Pioneer Proud’ of Jessy’s accomplishment!”

Moore is a native of St. Marys, West Virginia and is currently completing his student teaching at Gilmer County High School and Gilmer County Elementary School.