Judy Tiggelaar ’82 earned her physical education (PE) degree with an emphasis in adapted PE from Illinois State University. She also earned a master’s in education from Benedictine University. Her first position out of college was in the Lombard School District, where she did her student teaching. After a year in Lombard, Tiggelaar was hired at Monroe Elementary School in Hinsdale, and has been there ever since!
Monroe Elementary School is recognized by the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (IAHPERD) as a Blue Ribbon School that follows state standards for elementary school level physical education. More than 400 children take PE with Tiggelaar and her colleague Lori Andreoni in the school’s gymnasium each day.
While Tiggelaar loves teaching her kids in PE every day, she has also operated a successful running club, called the Monroe Milers, for the past 10 years. More than half of the boys and girls at Monroe Elementary participate in the running club as well as a Lift a Ton club where they do a set number of pushups based on their body weight that correlates to lifting a ton of weight! Tiggelaar believes strongly in providing as many opportunities for physical activity as possible beyond the classroom or gymnasium. She has also involved the children in International Peace Day and Walk to School Day.
Outside of her teaching responsibilities, Tiggelaar has served on numerous committees within her school district, such as teacher evaluation, curriculum, and professional development. She has also been an active member of her local teachers union serving as local president and regional vice chair.
She serves IAHPERD by chairing the governmental affairs committee, which monitors legislation in Springfield impacting health and PE. In addition to working on a bill that created the Enhanced PE Task Force, which led to the revision of the Illinois state learning standards for physical development and health, she helped create a bill allowing PE and health teachers to obtain highly qualified status. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, most teachers were required to obtain the highly qualified rating. PE and health teacher were not afforded the opportunity to achieve highly qualified status. However, with the passage of this bill into law, all PE and health teachers will have the same opportunity as all other teachers in the state.
Tiggelaar has served as the vice president of IAHPERD for children, director of advocacy, and is currently president-elect! She has made numerous presentations at the state association and SHAPE America, a Society of Health and Physical Educators. Tiggelaar is also a member of the Physical Education Advisory Council here at Illinois State University.
Her passion for professional involvement in the field stems from her Illinois State professors, Doris Henderson and Betty Keogh, who motivated her to give back to the profession. As such, she understands the importance for kids to be active and likes providing them with creative and interesting outlets to develop skills that can be used and enjoyed over the course of one’s lifetime.
She advises new PE graduates to get as involved as possible within your school community. Go beyond being known as the PE teacher or a coach, but get involved in committees and find ways to be of service to help enrich the learning opportunities for all children.
When reflecting on what stands out to Tiggelaar about her Illinois State experience, she noted the depth of the learning opportunities provided by her professors. When she graduated from the University, she felt prepared to teach in many different situations. We applaud Judy and wish her continued success in her career!
