Welcome Message: Hello, my name is Mr. Stewart I am a Physical Education teacher at Ironwood Ridge High School. Along with my teaching duties here at IRHS, I am an assistant on a varsity football staff.

Office Location/ time: I am currently in room F123. I teach a 6/5 schedule, so I have no prep hours this year. I can be contacted after school in my office, F123 Conference Room. 

Defining Moment in Education: I have many good memories from my teaching years. The best moments are normally when a former student contacts me and lets me know the information and lessons I have shared with them have helped them lead better lives. My teaching matters for the improvement of my students' lives!

 Core Educational Belief: Fitness and physical activity are key elements in the development of our young people. Physical education is important for developing the mental, social, and physical well-being of our future generations. They must know how to exercise and find activities they enjoy and will participate in for life!

One of my favorite indirect quotes related to physical education:    

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

A strong statement of the need for public physical education in the United States, for those who never face failure and the need to get back up and to keep trying during PE, maybe missing a key component to success - resilience. 

Prior Experience: I am currently in my 33rd year of professional teaching. Twenty-two of those years have been in the Amphitheater district, with the last six being right here at Ironwood Ridge.

Professional Accomplishments: Just last year I received a pin for 20 years of service in the Amphitheater School District. I proudly keep it in the lap drawer of my home desk. In the past, I have been certified as a strength and conditioning specialist by the NSCA.

Educational Degrees and Certificates: I received my B.S. in Education (Physical), with a minor in Health Education from Northern Arizona University.