If ever there was someone who followed in their parents’ footsteps, it was Maria Schneider, ’96.
Her mother and father met at, and graduated from, the College of Education, Health and Human Services, and both of them studied and taught health education and physical education. Maria earned her Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and a minor in health education from EHHS. Her mother was head coach for a high school girls’ gymnastics team that won 16 consecutive state titles and 19 total. Now a head gymnastics coach herself, Maria has won four consecutive titles. Both of her parents spent their careers teaching in the same school district where Maria has taught for 27 years running.
But getting her start in teaching didn’t come easy. When Maria was in eighth grade, her mother needed help teaching a class of adults with special needs. A teenager then, Maria confessed that she absolutely didn’t want to do it. She couldn’t do it. In fact, Maria was so scared that the mere thought of helping her mother teach moved her to tears. However, that first encounter with classroom instruction eventually put her on the path to becoming a teacher herself.
“I did the class and the next thing I knew I loved it,” Maria said. “Then I knew I wanted to be a teacher. It just felt rewarding. I only applied to Kent State because I knew they had a great education program. To me it was a no-brainer once I got in.”
Maria, who also holds a master’s degree in sports management from Cleveland State University, started out teaching grade school physical education. Some 27 years later she is still teaching in the same school district where her parents taught, though now she teaches health education and life skills courses to seventh and eighth graders at Brecksville-Broadview Heights Middle School.
“I love health education, and the lessons students take from it are so valuable,” she said. “It’s not the same health class I had growing up. Now it’s about developing skills, making decisions, setting goals, communicating and advocating.”
She stresses that the content she teaches in health class must change with the times, and teachers, like students, should be willing to change with it and be lifelong learners. Maria believes that once a teacher has tenure, it’s easy to keep going and not worry about having to change the curriculum to fit the times.
“If I was still teaching about smoking that would be silly,” she said. “I should be teaching about vaping. I might teach the same lesson or assessment, but I’m always trying to make it better.”
Because Maria’s outlook toward coursework often wavered between positive and negative, her EHHS professors began referring to her as ”Rollercoaster.” Up one day, down the next. Fortunately, she also found an overabundance of support from faculty within the college.
“My professors in PE were so hard on me but in a great way,” she said. “I wasn’t the top student, but they didn’t give up on me. That’s how I grew.”
Maria kept to a busy schedule while at Kent State. In addition to being a full-time student, she competed as a gymnast for two years, then worked as a student athletic trainer, traveling with the ice hockey team for two years. Maria wishes she had been “up more than down,” and she regrets not taking advantage of other opportunities beyond the classroom that would have allowed her to grow more as a professional while still in college.
But for more than 20 years, she has been working closely with the School of Health Sciences by supervising student teachers in the field and serving as a guest speaker in the classroom.
“She meets students wherever they’re at and works really hard to develop their skills,” said Rene Axiotis, associate professor of health education in the School of Health Sciences. “And that’s kind of what a coach does in a way. To see where they are and to see where they need help. She does it with such grace and humor, and our student teachers and our field experience students always feel so supported by her.”
Rene describes Maria as a strong representative for educators in Northeast Ohio. Through her involvement in SHAPE America (Society of Health and Physical Educators), an education-based organization, she penned an article on the importance of developing emotional intelligence that appeared in the fall 2022 issue of “Momentum,” SHAPE’s online publication, and was named the 2021 SHAPE America Midwest District Health Education Teacher of the Year. She was also named the 2019 Ohio Health Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education and Dance.
Maria lives by the saying, ”I get by with a little help from my friends.”
Maria keeps in touch with some of her college professors through education conventions or connecting on social media. She also gets help and advice from teachers across the country she has met along the way.
Although it was a challenging time for teachers and students, the pandemic also afforded an opportunity for Maria to connect with her colleagues about best practices for delivering virtual classroom instruction.
Now that students and teachers have returned to the classroom, the latest challenge is converting all the virtual learning back to in-person instruction.
“You were so used to doing things one way, then COVID hit, and you did things another way,” she explained. “And now you’re recreating again. We grew as teachers during COVID because we had to pivot. That was the big word. Then we had to pivot back.”
Teachers had to revisit lesson plans and think of new ways to create content for students, relying on technology to help develop their skills. Maria enjoyed these virtual meet-ups with other teachers that gave them the opportunity to continue to grow and learn despite COVID.
“We all get along with each other and work together, no matter what our subject area is,” she said. “We’re there to support each other. It’s a great atmosphere.”