Association Awards

VERNE LANDRETH AWARD
This award recognizes individuals who exemplify the highest in service, research, teaching or administration. Recipients are clearly outstanding in their profession.

Mary Blackman

Mary Blackman has served CAHPERD for the past 37 years and has shown herself to be a true professional and dedicated leader in the areas of health and physical education.

As a CAHPERD member, Mary has served in the capacity of VP for Girls & Women in Sport, VP for Physical Education, Southern District President, State Conference Site Co-Manager, State Conference Program Chair, Administration/Supervision Section Chair, Membership Committee Chair and CAHPERD President 2003-2004.  She is currently serving as Chair of the Office Committee and Lead for Standards Workshops and Scheduling.

The numerous professional presentations and workshops Mary has developed and given represent her desire to promote the message of health and physical education to all. She has presented at AAHPERD, Southwest District, California School Board Wellness Conference, the Fall Physical Education Conference, the California Leadership Academy, and the California Healthy Kids Conference. 

Mary has a history of outstanding service to the profession. She has committed untold hours for CAHPERD over the years and the organization has been well served by her dedication.

John Payne

John Payne has been an active member of CAHPERD, Southwest District and AAHPERD for nearly 40 years. He has served as CAHPERD President, VP for Physical Education, Awards Committee member, Southwest District AAHPERD President, Southwest District AAHPERD liaison to NASPE, and Multicultural Chair for Southwest District AAHPERD.

Included in his list of contributions to the field, John has given over forty presentations for CAHPERD and ten presentations for AAHPERD.  John has a history of involvement with sports and athletics and is the currently serving as the Director of Athletics for Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. He utilizes his skills to implement innovative approaches and practices to meet the needs of diverse faculty, staff, students and local communities. Organizing social, cultural and academic activities to help with maximizing sensitivity and utilizing the resources available in the area of multicultural diversity and social justice is John’s passion.

HONOR AWARD

The CAHPERD Honor Award recognizes persons who exemplify the spirit of devoted service to the profession and who have, by their leadership and industry, made an outstanding and noteworthy contribution to the advancement of health, physical education, recreation or dance in California.

Quentin A. Christian

Before joining CAHPERD as Executive Director, Quentin distinguished himself as a national and state leader for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. To highlight just a few of his accomplishments, he was a member of the Texas Special Olympics Board of Directors, President of the Mississippi AHPERD, member and Chair of various committees for Southern District AAHPERD (13 states), Southern District AAHPERD President, AAHPERD President, and Executive Director of Texas AHPERD.

As a university faculty member, Quentin conducted numerous workshops on physical education for elementary school children throughout Mississippi, designed and developed elementary school playgrounds, served as a university supervisor for student teachers, was a Coordinator of Graduate Programs within the Department of Physical Education at Ole’ Miss, and taught a variety of courses in the field of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He has authored several handbooks, books and articles in the areas of elementary physical activity, motor fitness, skill development and curriculum.

During Quentin’s tenure as Executive Director of CAHPERD, he has increased membership, conference attendance, conference exhibitors and advertising revenue. Quentin has developed a true growth legacy for our state organization.

PHYLLIS A. BLATZ EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP AWARD
This award honors individuals who have provided unique and distinguished leadership to CAHPERD over a minimum of fifteen (15) years in any or all levels of jurisdiction, or within other aspects or projects of the Association.

Betty Hennessy

Betty Hennessy has provided leadership in nearly everything pertaining to physical education for the past 27 years …. at the community, county, regional, state and national levels. Since 1982 when she was Vice President for Physical Education for CAHPERD, she amassed a distinguished record of service. She has served as chair of two sections, conference site manager, Southern District Representative, and chaired advisory committees.  At the national level in AAHPERD, she was Chair of the City and County Directors of ARAPCS, Chair of the Council on Physical Education for Children (COPEC) of NASPE and Chair of the Council on School Leadership in Physical Education of NASPE. She is a recipient of the Honor and Verne Landreth Awards of CAHPERD, one of the first recipients of the Margie Hanson Distinguished Service Award (COPEC) and the Channing Mann Award from the Council of City and County Directors.

In the community, Betty has served as the Education Committee Chair and Special Advisor to the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and more recently on the Advisory Committee for the Governor’s Council. She is a member of the Child Nutrition Advisory Council to the State Board of Education and is a member of the Youth Activities Task Force for the Los Angeles Division of the American Cancer Society.

Until recently, Betty served for 27 years as the Consultant for Physical Education and Coordinated School Health Programs, Division of Curriculum and Instruction in the Los Angels County Office of Education.  In 2007 she became Project Director III, in the Healthy Schools Office and Williams Legislation Implementation for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

M. Kathryn Scott

For more than twenty years M. Kathryn Scott has given outstanding and exemplary leadership to the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. During her 1989-90 term as CAHPERD President, she worked tirelessly-and successfully-to inform the State Board of Education about the important matters related to physical education and health education and the need for separate frameworks. Following her term as President, she took on the difficult task of serving as CAHPERD’s Legislative Chairperson (1990-94 and 1996-98) and has continued to serve as a member of that committee.

As an AAHPERD member, Kathy has served on the Legislative and Public Relations Committees (1999-2000), was the chair of the Public Relations and Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of its Healthy Active Advocacy Committee.

Over the years she has represented CAHPERD at the California State Board of Education as well as numerous times before California’s Senate Education, Senate Higher Education, Assembly Education and Assembly Health committees.  Her abilities to insightfully represent her professional organization have earned her (hence our profession) considerable respect from a number of our most significant elected officials. In 2000 she was appointed by the Speaker of the California State Assembly to serve as a member of the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness.

Kathy’s work has also benefited her profession and the people of the State of California through her contributions to the Western Society for Physical Education of College Women, the annual Cal Poly Workshops, and the California Parks and Recreation Society. She received an invitation from the Republic of Korea in 2000 to speak at several universities about “Physical Education in the 21st Century” which demonstrates the high regard that is held for her work. She has accomplished this and more while for over twenty years overseeing and directing the Physical Education program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Division & Section Awards

High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year
Ruth Mohr Silofau, Long Beach Unified School District
Steve McLaughlin, Poway Unified School District

Physical Education Program of the Year
Alice C. Stelle, Middle School, Las Virgenes Unified School District

K-12 Dance Educator
Jo Schillinger, Los Angeles Unified School District

Professional Dance Educator
Jeanine Coombs-Todd, J. Rene Academy of Dance, Elk Grove

Girls & Women in Sport Distinguished Service Award
Keri Sanchez, Claremont McKenna College

Boys & Men’s Athletics Honor Award
Angelo Sablan, Culver City Middle School
Emyr Williams, California State University, Long Beach

Adapted Physical Educator
James Bell, San Mateo County Office of Education

Adapted Physical Education Professional Recognition
Dianne Wilson-Graham, Conejo Valley Unified School District

Past Presidents' Award of Merit
Harriette “Charlie” Pullen, Los Angeles Unified School District, Retired

Student Scholarship Awards

Winifred Van Hagen/Rosalind Cassidy Scholarship
Robert Clegg, California State University, Fresno
Tracy Lopez, California State University, Chico

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Scholarship
Jessica Atwood, California State University, Sacramento

Julius Spizzirri Student Scholarship
(Presented by CAHPERD State Council on Adapted Physical Education)
Heidi Schweitzer, Sonoma State University

Cultural Diversity Student Scholarship
(Presented by CAHPERD State Council on Adapted Physical Education)
Alena Cook, Sonoma State University

William Harkness Emerging Leader Scholarship
(Presented by CAHPERD Foundation for the Promotion of Healthy Lifestyles)
Jeannette Hassler, Humboldt State University