Tom Benco

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I wanted to share my love of movement with others. I built a homemade obstacle course in my backyard out of cardboard boxes from the local store and made an olympic style course in my yard. Before long the whole neighborhood joined in on the fun! I was only 10 years old and the LA Olympic games were going on at the time in 1984. I knew then I wanted to continue to share my joy of movement with others and inspire people to move more throughout their day.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I had students working in teams to decide what character trait (leadership, effort, play fair, etc...) their teammate best represented during the class. I turned the mvp (one award) into the most valuable student (everyone awarded) based on what character attributes the students showed during PE class. Then each student voted for their teammate and got to sign a poster labeled with the attribute they displayed during the lesson. This way everyone can shine and it was voted by their peers!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would probably expand building on an exercise room in my house to continue to stay active and healthy! I may also use some of the money for equipment to set up a podcast to teach others about the benefits of staying healthy and active.