OSWEGO – Oswego Middle School physical education teacher Patrick Bond was recently named middle school physical education teacher of the year for the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Central North Zone.
Bond’s commitment to students, bringing new ideas to OMS and providing a fun, welcoming and encouraging physical education environment earned him the top recognition amongst his colleagues throughout the Central North Zone’s Section 3 area, including: Oswego, Northern Cayuga, Lewis, Jefferson, Onondaga, Oneida, Madison and Herkimer counties.
“It’s very humbling,” he said of the anonymous nomination. “I love this level here at OMS; I see the growth of the kids. I come to work every day and work with kids; it’s about knowing you’re going to have an impact on somebody.”
Bond accepted a plaque during the recent NYSAHPERD recognition night, where attendees heard highlights of his career from NYSAHPERD’s elementary/middle school section president. Bond graduated from Oswego High School in 1993 and became a physical education teacher in the nearby Phoenix Central School District in 2001 before he returned to his home district of Oswego in 2008.
For the past four years, he has been at OMS and most recently helped implement a new indoor/outdoor cycling program called Riding for Focus.
OCSD Director of Athletics Rhonda Bullard was credited with sharing that Bond “is a kind and student-centered teacher that likes to be creative and provide as many enriching opportunities for the students as possible.”
The award, Bond said, is less about him and more about the people, including his family and OMS colleagues, who have supported him throughout his career.
He was delighted to be in the same category of past winner and former Leighton Elementary School physical education teacher Deb Lavner, who retired from the district last year.
Bond said he looks forward to bringing more joy and fitness fun to OMS seventh- and eighth-graders, as well as OCSD students he coaches.
He is also thrilled to have been invited to speak about OMS bicycle program at the spring NYSAHPERD conference.
