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Crispen Anderson has received the 2009 Utah Junior High School Teacher of the Year at the UAAPHERD conference held at BYU. Crispen is in his 16th year of teaching health and PE, the last six of which have been at Lakeridge Junior High School. Crispen received this award for his original lesson ideas, leadership among his peers, and continous work in creating curriculum. Crispen knows how to make health interesting and fun. One of his favorite techniques is to use the students as props. Students in his classes have been interesting subjects, like diseases, blood cells, and antibodies. Crispen likes to stay current in his teaching fields by attending conferences and doing research. Through his years of teaching, he has been a new teacher mentor, athletic director at an at-risk school, curriculum team leader, and department head.
Crispen graduated from BYU in PE, Health, and Driver’s Education in 1996, and he earned a Master’s in Counseling from University of Phoenix in 2005. He has been a coach for over twenty years working with wrestling, softball, and football teams. He is still coaching wrestling at Mountain View High School. With age comes soreness, but not enough to stop Crispen from still enjoying playing softball, volleyball, and football. He espcially loves playing sports with his family; Crispen and his wife Susan have five boys and one daughter. You might think that makes for a great basketball team, but given their sizes, they believe they have one great gymnast and some mighty 103 pound wrestlers in the making.
While learning at BYU, Crispen enjoyed participating in athletics before knee injuries. He performed with Lamanite Generation, giving him the opportunity to travel through Eastern Europe. His specialty was the hoop dance and he still passes this and other dances on to his children. He also served as a Supervisor of Discovery, a summer school program for Native American, Polynesian, and Latin American youth.
Crispen has taught at three different schools, coached at six different high schools and one junior high in three different districts. Along his path, he has worked with wonderful mentors and colleagues. His experiences with youth and teachers helped form and change strategies and philosophies that influence his teaching today. Crispen believes in giving his students the best opportunity to succeed. (continue with philosophies) He feels teaching with laughter is one of the most important techniques that help ease class tension and break down barriers that keep students from learning.
Crispen is humbled to receive this award. He has worked with many great teachers and feels honored that people saw something great in his teaching.
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