Monday, January 29, 2007
"Outstanding Teacher" Christine Payne lives what she teaches
 The first time Christine Payne took a yoga class, she hated it.“It touched muscles I hadn’t used before, but it did help my posture,” she said. “Over time, it started to help my outlook on life and gave me a calm, stress-free place to go when things got tough.” In 2006, she earned an advanced yoga certification, which requires attending 200 hours of courses, divided over one weekend a month for a year. Payne, recipient of the USI Foundation’s 2006-07 Outstanding Teaching Award for Adjunct Faculty, teaches yoga, aerobics, and fitness and wellness courses. She has been teaching at USI since 2002 and was a tennis coach at the University of Evansville for 24 years. Her award includes a $500 one-time stipend, and a $500 professional development grant, money she’ll use to become certified as a CPR instructor and for a fitness or yoga workshop. In nominating Payne, a colleague wrote, “Chris Payne personifies the image of ‘teacher.’ She has thorough command of her subject matter. She is committed to expanding her knowledge base, keeping herself fresh, renewed, and up-to-date. She is constantly changing, designing, and creating new materials for her students. She is able to challenge her students.” Teaching courses in fitness and wellness – a field in constant flux as new research emerges – requires that Payne spend a lot of time reading. Her trusted resources include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “You have to be very concerned about the resources you choose,” she said. “If it’s a study, you want to know who paid for it, who promoted it, how many subjects were in it, and if a reputable organization did the research.” She keeps up on aerobics and yoga through attending workshops and conferences. “Aerobics is ever-changing, so you have to constantly go to workshops. I’ve also attended the International Fitness Conference, and learned a lot that way.” She said students seem to enjoy working out. “The class is not just something they have to take as a core course. They are actually having fun.” In turn, Payne has fun when she’s teaching. “And I live what I teach. So there is always an example,” she said. “I love the students. They like a challenge, and they don’t like to be spoon-fed information. I try not to preach, but to get them involved and make it personal.” Payne thinks physical education is as important in college as in the preceding school years. “I feel strongly that the health of our country depends on young adults who continue with their good health habits, and if they don’t have any, to develop them,” she said. “This is the first time most of the students are on their own and making their own decisions. “With fitness and wellness implemented into the curriculum, they learn how to bring it into their daily lives.” |
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