Ryan Cherry » Mr. Cherry Bio

Mr. Cherry Bio

Ryan Cherry is from Brooklyn, Michigan and attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a highly qualified educator who spent the last 15 years working in various educational settings around the Midwest.  After seeing his high school soccer coach be an influential role model in the lives of his elementary students, he studied elementary education in college as he sought to also positively impact the lives of students. This is his 8th year at Decatur. He did his student teaching in 5th grade at Cleveland School in Chicago.  He taught Language Arts and Math in a 5th grade classroom in Brookfield, IL,  all subjects in a 4th through 6th grade room at a public Montessori school in Indiana and at Hibbard Elementary in CPS before coming to Decatur in 2017.

Mr. Cherry is inquisitive and curious about the people and world around him. He enjoys reading as it a great avenue to better understand people and our world. He agrees with Dr. Seuss that "the more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." Mr. Cherry is filled with immense excitement about the chance to teach physical education, as it combines his passion for physical activity and sports with the joy of engaging with students and supporting them enthusiastically. He is fascinated by neuroscience and its intersection with physical activity and is grateful for the chance to have students four days each week to encourage their physical activity.

 

He is passionate about seeing students gain confidence in their abilities to be successful in both the classroom and the world and become well rounded individuals who care for others as they care for themselves.  In his free time, Mr. Cherry enjoys playing sports, spending time with friends and family and enjoying a delicious slice of pie with some strong coffee.

 
 

Posts

Bowling Feb 3-7, 2025 PE

This week we partnered with the Illinois Bowlers Education Program who provided us equipment and resources to help teach students about bowling. Students got to practice their form in a variety of ways then use bowling carpet lanes to bowl with their classmates. Thanks to Ms B, a bowling specialist with the program who came out and helped support our students.

Hoop Hop Showdown Intermediate Grades

This week while working in a different space due to the winter show, students got to play a game called Hoop Hop Showdown where 2 teams needed to hop through the hula hoops path and when they meet a player from the opposing team the two players have a rock paper scissors showdown. The winner keeps going and the other player goes to the end of their line and a new player starts at the beginning of the path.

Volleyball Battleship Intermediate Grades Jan 24, 2025

Students this week practiced their serving skills through the game Volleyball Battleships where both teams try to serve into one of the hula hoops set up by the other team. If a player hits the serve into the hoop then that "battleship" is sunk. Whatever team sinks the most ships in the time allocated is the winning team.

Bump and Set 4 Square Volleyball

Students practiced their bumping and setting skills in the context of a 4 square like game. One player started as the server and tossed the ball to a teammate who tried to either set or bump the ball to another teammate. The goal was to try to get an many consecutive hits in a row while using proper technique. If a mistake was made, students rotated and started again.

Locomotor Noodle Tag

Students had fun practicing different locomotor movements like hop, leap, gallop, skip, etc. while playing Locomotor Noodle Tag where students get a card of a particular locomotor movement then they move in the playing area only in this manner. If they get tagged by one of the taggers with a pool noodle they go and switch cards for a new locomotor movement. Taggers were changed every few minutes. Lots of great moments!
A famous Christmas Elf walked through the 7 layers of the candy cane forest all the way to Decatur for the last day of school before winter break!

Pass the Candy Cane game Jr. High Students

We contiinued the week with more holiday themed games. This one is called Pass the Candy cane where teams work to pass a pool noodle with their feet to the next person in a relay type activity,

Grinch Tag game intermediate students Dec 16-19, 2024

Most of the students were the villagers of Whoville who wanted to get back their presents from the Grinches who stole them from their town. Several students were Grinches and used pool noodles to safely defend their loot. Teams with the most presents at the end won.

Beanbag the Snowman game Jr. High Students

Students put a bowling pin (the Snowman) in a hula hoop and underhand tossed a bean bag to try and knock down the snowman and earn points.

Battle for the Black Pearl Game Intermediate grades Dec 13, 2024

Students played a throwing and catching game inspired by the popular pirate movie series Pirates of the Caribbean. Students worked in teams with their "ship" to cooperate to keep their ship from getting sunk by other teams "cannonballs." They used scooters to collect cannonballs and return them to their team's throwers.

Fitness Day Intermediate Grades Dec 12, 2024

Students used the climbing wall, agility ladders, fit deck cards with different exercises on each card to build their cardio endurance.

Farming Frenzy Primary Students Dec 2-6, 2024

Students worked with their teams to collect as many "eggs" (dodgeballs) as they could in 3 minutes and deposit them in their teams' "Barn" (or bucket).

Pumpkin Patch Game Intermediate Nov 22 2024

To celebrate the fall season, students played a.game called pumpkin patch where each player is partnered up with one other classmate and they take turns rolling their ball into the center of the gym trying to get it to stop in the middle of a hula hoop. Any hoop their ball stops in is that team's to grab and return to their cone.