Editors note: Ron Fuller is retiring this year after 34 of years teaching physical education. He was asked to reflect on his career and share those thoughts with all of us.

That old saying: "seems like only yesterday" seems to apply to me at this time. I was 21 years old when I, and a few others still around, entered the newly built Enders Road School to begin working with kids and launching our careers in education. That equally old saying: "If I knew then what I know now" also seems to apply. We all know that experience is what helps give us confidence in what we do; and although I am feeling quite confident, I'm still looking got new ideas and new ways to reach more children. In reflecting over the past 34 years as a physical education teacher, this is what I have observed.

Children still and always will love to play. The minute the word "game" is mentioned, childrens' eyes light up as they anxiously await directions, rules and goals. Even the simplest things, when put in game form, will lure even the most reluctant child. There's always a part, or position to play; for the athlete, as well as the non-athlete in a game.

Games require organization. Today's children are able to organize themselves. So much of their lives have had to be organized (music lessons, soccer practice...) that organizing daily life has become a survival skill. Although children now have a way to do this, few will go home after school and get a baseball game going in the backyard.

Most children love to be active! Today's kids are especially aware of the need to be physically fit, and most importantly aerobically fit. The word "aerobics" is a common word in their vocabulary. I learned that word as a young adult after having read Dr. Kenneth Cooper's books on aerobic fitness. Children are very aware of what keeps them healthy and what does not. Remember, "If I only knew then what I know now?" Oh, if I only did!

Although better informed, today's children are not as physically strong as they were in the past. Perhaps technology has made our lives so much easier for us. Our opportunities to get up and move around are fewer and fewer. Computers, in particular, have worked their ways into our daily lives. There is so much that we can do from our own homes now. I would look forward to the annual holiday shopping outing around Christmas time. Who would have thought that we now would be doing our Christmas shopping by merely sitting in a chair?

It does seem like only yesterday. I've had 34 wonderful years doing what I enjoy most, in a wonderful school, in a wonderful district and with wonderful people. I have often told my own boys that whatever they do in life, they must be sure to like it, because they will do it for a long time. I have been truly blessed!