Teaching healthy interactions while growing physically and mentally

SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake native David Cahoon is looking forward to working as the Seeley Lake Elementary kindergarten – eighth grade (K-8) physical education teacher, a position he has been waiting for since he got his teaching degree in 2017. His hopes his students will learn healthy interactions and balance through the units as they grow physically and mentally.

"[Teaching them] You aren't going to win every time, you aren't going to lose every time. It is how you react and come out of those situations and the growth out of those situations," Cahoon said. "We can go hit all the standards we want but it is the interactions and balancing how our actions make others feel that help us grow."

While coaching with his father Wayne, Cahoon realized he lacked the ability to teach the athletes he was coaching.

"As a coach, I knew these things I had already done but I couldn't introduce the basics at a level that every kid could understand," Cahoon said. "I realized I wanted to be a better teacher."

Cahoon attended the University of Montana and graduated in 2017 with a K-12 endorsement as a health enhancement teacher. He student taught at Paxson Elementary under Glen Moffatt for K-5 students and substitute taught at Seeley Lake Elementary. He also student taught under Mike Haines at Seeley-Swan High School.

Not only did he improve his teaching as a coach, Cahoon credits Moffatt for really spurring his interest in teaching through building relationships and helping children learn with "fantastic" classroom management.

"The kids understood the rules but it wasn't with force and it wasn't with a whistle, it was that they understood where they needed to be and were engaged in what they needed to get done," Cahoon said. "It was well done to the point that the kids had fun because of the classroom and it wasn't in spite of the classroom management."

Having other businesses in the area, loving the area and having no desire to leave Seeley Lake, Cahoon waited for the physical education position to open at SLE. He was hired for the 2021-2022 school year.

Cahoon adopted Moffatt's classroom strategy. Students have home spots and there are designated listening areas in the gym. Cahoon said he wants the students to come into the gym with purpose, in an organized way and leave the same way.

Cahoon said he has been allowed to set the units as long as he adheres to the Office of Public Instruction standards. He has adapted some of Moffatt's curriculum, however, it has required a lot of planning and preparation. To simplify, he grouped the students into three levels by grades K-2, 2-4 and 4 – 8, to work on skills and meet standards. To bring in the health requirements, Cahoon said he looks forward to teaching health bites at the end of the class period instead of spending a lot of sit-down classroom time.

So far, the position has been challenging. However, Cahoon said he loves a challenge and learning new things. He also wants to be teaching at SLE, build relationships with the students and be a part of their lives to a level that they trust him and are comfortable asking questions and learning about life.

"That is a very wide range of kids. I'm new and I'm learning. It is difficult in many ways but it has been rewarding in so many ways too," Cahoon said. "I know I don't know it all, but I know that I care about the kids and I know I'm going to do my best for them,"

When he is not teaching, Cahoon enjoys his time with his family, coaching, snowbiking and flying drones. He loves winter and typically knows how many days until Dec. 21.