Alumni Association
Cathy Caldwell
Cathy Caldwell was bored. Sitting on the bleachers as a spectator at her high school games was not her idea of entertainment. That was the late 1960s, when there were no athletics for girls in Liberty, Indiana. “Reflecting back, I believe I was on a mission to see girls participating in sports,” says Caldwell, who is now one of the most inventive and celebrated elementary school physical education (P.E.) teachers in the nation.
In 2003, the Indiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (IAHPERD) named Caldwell “Indiana Teacher of the Year” for elementary P.E. And, in 2004, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education named her “Teacher of the Year” for elementary P.E. in the Midwest.
Caldwell has spent the larger portion of her 26 years of teaching in Indiana’s Westfield–Washington Schools. At Shamrock Springs Elementary, Caldwell designs workouts that incorporate endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility—as well as math, reading, and spelling. She has initiated numerous original programs and projects, including Shamrock’s Outdoor Fitness Trail, which resides in a wildlife habitat.
Caldwell credits the School of HPER and Professors Gallahue and Strong as particularly influential. In fact, Gallahue, whose books still sit on Caldwell’s shelf, inspired her to develop Nutrition Lessons That Will Make a Difference, an innovative curriculum for grades 1–4.
Countless students have passed through her gymnasium, and it would be impossible to calculate her broad impact. But for Caldwell, hearing one child say “I can do it!” is the greatest of all accomplishments.
