Recently, St. Robert hired a new PE teacher Mr. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien is a fantastic teacher that has been added to the wonderful staff lineup in the 2024-2025 school year.

The opinion of Mr. O’Brien among the students is sky high, and the school is beyond happy to have him here. Some students, like 6th grader William, a player on the sixth grade basketball team, have a view of the new P.E. teacher that they chose to share. According to Jansen, some of the things that 6th grade has done in PE include the very important pacer test, an overall ‘fitness’ test where things like curl-ups and push-ups are evaluated, and finally a day where all of the rules and expectations of the class were gone over thoroughly. When asked about units of study that he was looking forward to, Jansen replied that he favored either basketball or football best. Mr. O’Brien already has students excited for what’s to come throughout the year.

However, it’s not just middle schoolers who are excited about the new teacher. Gus, a first grade student, says, “I really like him” after being asked about his opinion on Mr. O’Brien. Gus continued, “We’ve done… a ‘cross the river’ activity.” This aptly named game includes hopping across rubber dots on the gym floor as students imagine it to be a river. This is a great showcase on how Mr. O’brien chooses to get students active and engaged in team activities.

Finally, Mr. O’Brien himself shared a bit about his teaching journey. He had been working in Philadelphia before coming to Milwaukee, and the year before that he had been biking around the country. “I was riding around the country all year,” he explains. “My favorite spots were probably Yellowstone or Grand Tetons [National Park].” His connection to physical education includes his own passions of biking, running, and soccer. When he was seventeen, he played for a Bavarian club team. He will even be competing in the Lakefront Marathon later this year. Originally, he thought he wanted to be a school counselor. Luckily, for St. Robert School, he explained that he “wanted to see a wider variety of kids in a larger group of students.” When asked about the implications of teaching PE to  4K all the way up to 8th grade, he responded with “I think transitions are difficult because I need to have different equipment ready. Also, you need to speak in different ways to each grade so that they can understand every word I say.” At the beginning of every class, students recite The Athlete’s Prayer. When asked why, Mr. O’Brien said, “It reminds us of what we’re about and what we’re not about. … We’re not here to be envious of each other and to hurt each other. It kind of grounds us and shows us what to do.” 

All in all, every member of St. Robert School is lucky to have Mr. O’Brien as an addition to our spectacular collection of teachers.