When Kimberly Blitek was a student at North Central College more than 20 years ago, she thought she would go into business. After taking a few courses, she realized that path was not for her.
“I just thought about, ‘What did I enjoy?’ I used to baby-sit growing up, played lots of different sports and stuff,” she said. “One of my best friends was going to become a P.E. teacher and so she was like, ‘Hey, … you should do the same thing.’”
Now the Kingsley Elementary School physical education teacher, who organizes cardio drumming and cosmic bowling for her more than 400 Naperville students, cannot imagine doing anything else.
“I love what I do,” she said.
That passion has earned Blitek statewide recognition.
Nonprofit Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance has named Blitek the state’s elementary school P.E. teacher of the year, which recognizes “outstanding instructional performance” from teachers in the field of physical education, according to the organization’s website.
“I received an email (about the honor). I was at school, and I didn’t realize how excited I would be,” she said.
Blitek had already been recognized by the organization’s Northeastern District, but her colleagues encouraged her to apply for the state level award, which required her to self-reflect and write about her experiences as a P.E. teacher.
It was difficult for Blitek to open up at first but going through the application process helped her realize how much she pours into her students, she said.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I have done a lot and I do a lot,’ and it kind of built that pride, like I’m really proud of what I do here,” Blitek said. “And so when I received (the honor), I think it was such a great feeling. … to have it be recognized by others and others who I highly respect, it felt really, really good.”
A Naperville native who still lives in the city, Blitek attended Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora before going to NCC in Naperville, where she played volleyball and ran track and field. She spent the first 11 years of her teaching career at Kennedy Junior High School, which is also part of Naperville District 203, before moving to Kingsley elementary, where she has been for the past 12 years.
“It was a huge change,” Blitek said. “It was scary at first because it’s almost like going back to your first year teaching.”
She had to learn all over again how to teach each grade level, including how to talk to the students and structure her courses in an engaging way.
“I like to turn my gym, my classes, into experiences so they’re core memories — things the kids are going to remember,” she said.
That includes building games around simple skills like underhand throwing and rolling a ball with accuracy.
“I love just making up rules and seeing what I have around me,” she said. “For St. Patrick’s Day, I created these leprechauns on cones, and I used laundry baskets, and so the kids had to roll a ball to hit the cones so that the basket would fall and ‘catch’ the leprechaun.”
One of her favorite things is DrumFIT, a musical cardio drumming activity in which kids use drum sticks to move around giant exercise balls. She also does cosmic bowling, where she will set up bowling lanes and hang fun lights around the gym to create a magical bowling experience.
The goal, she said, is not just exercise — it helps students build confidence and find different ways to be active.
“What I do with them twice a week, it’s not going to make them fit or unfit,” Blitek said. “But what it’s going to do, it’s going to give them the confidence that they can be active for life and outside of school. … Not everyone has to be a basketball player, not everyone has to be a football player, soccer player. There’s so many other ways you can be active.”
That focus on confidence and inclusion has also shaped how Blitek structures her classroom. This year, Blitek piloted a mentorship program that paired fifth-graders with younger students in the school’s special education program. She started the program after struggling to engage some students in her class.
“I have a group of amazing fifth-graders who come twice a week to that structured learning class, and it has changed the entire class,” she said. “I have 100% engagement from most of the class now, where I was struggling to get any engagement at the beginning of the year. And the students, the friendship, the learning about others who learn (differently), that inclusivity — it’s made our school a better place.”
After a successful first year, she hopes to grow and expand the program.
It is not easy being a P.E. teacher, she said, but seeing students leaving the gym sweating and smiling makes it all worth it.
“I leave elementary (school), I’m exhausted but my heart is full,” she said. “Every single day, I am so happy and I pour into what I do because of the students. When they’re sometimes leaving the gym, walking out, they’re like, ‘That was the best day ever,’ or ‘That was so much fun.’”
cstein@chicagotribune.com
