Springfield College recently hosted the annual Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD) conference and awards banquet. Following two years of virtual formats, the conference returned to an in-person event for the first time since 2019. As part of the festivities, MAHPERD award winners from both 2020 and 2021 were recognized in separate ceremonies.
As part of the 2020 awards celebration, Springfield College Faculty Emeritus Dr. Mimi Murray ’61, G’67 was recognized with the MAHPERD Presidential Citation. With a tenure of 52 years, she holds the honor of the longest-serving faculty member in Springfield College history. Murray has enjoyed a strong national and international reputation in the field of athletics, having served as president for the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance (ICHPER-SD); the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD); and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS). Murray also served as vice president for the United States Collegiate Sports Council.
Joining Murray at the 2020 awards recognition was Jeff Bartlett ’08, who was honored for being named the Health Education Teacher of the Year during the 2020 ceremony. Bartlett has served students at Holten Richmond Middle School in Danvers, Mass. for more than 13 years, where he has focused on implementing a skills-based health education curricula with the goal of reducing risk-behaviors among adolescents.
The following day as part of the 2021 awards ceremony, Springfield College Director of Educator Preparation and Licensure Linda Davis-Delano was presented with the MAHPERD Joseph McKenney Award, which is the highest award the Association can bestow on a member in recognition of distinguished service to one or more of the professions in the Association.
Davis-Delano has worked at the College since 1993, and she has been extremely active at the Massachusetts state level serving on numerous working groups for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Additional awards distributed at the 2021 recognition event featured retired Director of Health and Physical Education for Medfield Public Schools, Susan Cowell ’84, receiving the MAHPERD Honor Award. This honor is given to a member of MAHPERD who has made significant strides in the fields of Health, Physical Education, Recreation or Dance.
Springfield College recent graduates and current students were also well represented during the awards ceremonies with Natasha Adrianna Jordan ’21, Brendan Tassy ’20, Matthew DeGrandpre ’20, senior Colin Mediate ’22, and graduate student Gianna Napoli ’20, G’22, all recognized as Outstanding Future Professional Award recipients.
In addition, the College was well represented on the MAHPERD executive board with Brian McNally ’81 serving as president during the 2019-20 year, followed by Kerri Smith ’97 leading as president for 2020-21.
