#22 - Planning the Ultimate Field Day with Drew Burris

Secure your spot for the 2025-2026 DPE Virtual Book Study, facilitated by Gary Zaharatos and Jen Smith. Buy tickets here! Feel free to email gary@distinguishedpe.com for group discounts or any questions. 

 

My guest today is Drew Burris.

Drew received a Bachelor of Science in 2009 and Master of Science in Kinesiology in 2015 at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri. With 14 years of teaching experience and 12 years of coaching under his belt, Drew has worked with students ranging from PreK to 9th grade. For the past six years, he’s been teaching PreK through 2nd grade at Ridge View Elementary. 

Drew is not only dedicated to his students but also to sharing his expertise with the broader PE community. He’s been published, runs a popular X account, and is growing a YouTube channel—both of which are linked in the episode description. Over the past decade, he’s earned several awards, but the one he’s most proud of is being named the Missouri SHAPE Elementary PE Teacher of the Year in 2021. He’s also part of the OPEN National Trainers group, helping PE teachers across the country enhance their practice.

 

Drew and I discuss what the weeks leading up to field day look like for him and his students, the impact of utilizing standards based social skills in the lessons leading up to field day, the benefits of having a theme to your field day, how to recruit volunteers, and other topics. 

 

Resources

X: @project_physed 

YouTube: @ProjectPhysEd

Website: projectphysed.weebly.com 

 

Want to be a guest on the podcast? Click here to connect!

 

Second Annual Colorado Health and Physical Education Summit 2025

 

This is a free professional development event. The Summit supported and developed by the Colorado Health and Physical Education Council, the council consists of health and physical education district coordinators and other partners from across the state of Colorado. This summit promises inspiration, networking opportunities, and a shared commitment to fostering healthier futures. 

 

June 4 & 5, 2025 - 8am-4pm

Jefferson High School

2305 Pierce Street

Edgewater, Co., 80214

Register here!

 

If you enjoy this podcast and are interested in learning more about how you or the PE teachers in your district can earn licensure renewal credits through a facilitated book study based on the book Becoming a Distinguished Physical Education Teacher, please fill out this form or email gary@distinguishedpe.com.

 

Find DPE merch, including t-shirts and hoodies here. 

 

If you haven’t already, be sure to join our Facebook group where we have assembled quite the group of experts, always willing to share their insights and help out colleagues with their problems of practice. Simply search for Distinguished Physical Education.