Annie Machamer, PETE master’s grad and current EdD student, earned the Dance Educator of the Year award at the West Virginia Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance conference, October 20-21.
Machamer is thankful for the experiences she received from the WVAHPERD organization. “The conference as a whole allowed me to be exposed to a wide variety of opportunities, learning from other educational leaders and networking within my profession,” Machamer explained.
After being a part of the group for a few years, she is thankful for the connection.
“WVAHPERD is a wonderful organization that leads the profession by providing quality conferences with a wide variety of opportunities for development for all educators in attendance. For the past few years, I have served as the dance chair for the organization, working to develop strength in dance learning opportunities within the conference schedule,” Machamer said.
“My dedication to advocating for dance education within the field showed strength in this year’s conference with a wide variety of dance performances and learning opportunities for educators to experience. With multiple opportunities at hand, I felt a great benefit in expanding my knowledge of dance education practice in multiple settings within the profession,” Machamer added.
Machamer acknowledged faculty and mentors who have helped her reach her goals.
“I am thankful to my graduate assistant advisor Dr. Valerie Wayda for providing me the opportunity to continually teach this course throughout my time at WVU, allowing for development in my practice and understanding of the most appropriate curriculum for educating future physical educators on how to best implement dance within their physical education curriculum,” she said.
Machamer added Drs. Emily Jones, Eloise Elliot and Sean Bulger to the list of faculty who have provided vital support.
“Another faculty member who has had great influence on my dance educator experience is Dr. Emily Jones through her continual support in my dance implementation within the physical education curriculum at the Elementary education level,” Machamer explained.
“I have also had support from Dr. Eloise Elliott, who had guided me to think more about how dance can be implemented within the classroom setting and how developing rhythm and dance movement activities that can be implemented in the academic classroom. I have also had strong support in multiple settings from Dr. Sean Bulger, who encourages me to continue to reach out in the dance education setting at the university, state and national level,” she concluded.
“After being nominated, I submitted my dance education experience and current practice in implementation. Applications were then evaluated and the award winner was chosen. Now that I have accepted the state award, I can submit as an applicant for the district, and potentially the national level of Dance Teacher of the Year,” Machamer added.