P.E. teacher hanging up whistle

For nearly 30 years, Donna Handley has taught the three R’s at Andrew J. Mitchell Elementary, but maybe not the three you may be thinking of - Running, Recreation and Respect.

This week marks her last at the school she’s taught all but one year of her career as she hangs up her coach’s whistle for good.

Her decision to retire is a bittersweet one, she said. Because of district-wide budget cuts, her physical education position will be part-time next school year. Because she has 29 years in with the Clark County School District and 100 sick days accumulated, she and others in her identical position were offered a buyout so that they would officially have the 30 years in and thus receive the maximum retirement.

“It’s disappointing because I love my job,” said Handley, who also works one day a week at Harry Reid Elementary School in Searchlight. “I see more smiles in a week than some people will see in an entire lifetime. The kids have so much fun, as do I. That part’s hard. I’m going to miss those smiles and joy on their faces.”

The smiles she sees on those faces often look familiar because it’s not uncommon for a student to tell her that she taught their mom or dad when they went to Mitchell.

“It makes me feel old but it’s also very cool,” she said with a wide smile of her own.

It won’t just be Handley missing the school. The feeling goes both ways.

“So many of the things that make Mitchell a great school are because of Ms. Handley,” Principal Tracy Echeverria said. “It is because of her that we have Star Wars, our morning running and walking opportunity for students and families, the Turkey Trot, Santa Run, Mitchell Marathon, and Read and Run. These events bring our community together.

“Additionally, she is generous with her time to both Mitchell and Reid. She is the first to volunteer when we need to make something happen. She embodies Leader in Me with her use of the 7 Habits in her classrooms. I first knew Donna when I was a parent here. What impressed me most, then and now, is that she makes exercising and making healthy choices easy and fun for students to understand. We will miss her every day.”

As to what brought her to Boulder City and kept her here all these years, she said, “I live in Henderson, so I’m close but I love little towns. I took the job and fell in love with all the K-2 little ones, they’re just so sweet. I’m going to miss not only the kids but the parents, the community and the staff. Everyone has been so supportive of everything I’ve done here.”

Handley said she had always been into fitness, taught aerobics classes and weight training but her first college major was nearly the opposite. She studied marine biology but quickly realized the job opportunities would be limited. Instead, she got her degree in kinesiology, the study of the mechanics of the movement of the body.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching and for kids, which is why I wanted to teach them about wellness for life,” she said. “It’s about being able to move their bodies but having fun while they do it. I want them to keep active into adulthood and keep their bodies healthy.”

In her three decades as a physical education teacher, Handley said she’s seen a bit of an epidemic, not just in Boulder City but nationwide when it comes to kids and technology.

The epidemic is a lack of movement or getting out of the house because they’d rather be on phones, tablets, computers, watching television or playing video games.

“I’ve definitely seen that,” she said. “The phones have destroyed a lot of kids socially and emotionally and resulted in a lack of desire to move. A lot of kids are socially awkward because a lot of them go home and spend time on their tablets or play video games and they don’t interact with other kids nearly as much these days. That’s why I encourage them to get outside for at least 60 minutes a day and just enjoy being a kid.”