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 16 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 9th 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

Primary grades ball dribbling challenges April 28- May 2 2025

Students attempted a series of dribbling challenges and then shared them with the class during "Showtime". Be sure to ask your student about "Showtime"

Ball Dribbling challenges Primary grades April 22 2025

Students took on a series of challenges to do while dribbling like hopping on one foot.

Here are the winners for the Decatur March madness bracket challenge for the men's and women's tournaments. Way to go!

Intermediate grades basketball tournament April 14-18, 2025

Jr. High Basketball games April 14-18, 2025

After working on building skills, students got to demonstrate their skills in small sided games with 3-4 players.

Primary grades builders and bulldozers game April 8 2025

Students were split up into 2 teams. One team was the builders whose job was to dribble the ball while setting up any cones that were knocked over. The other team were the bulldozers and their job was to keep their dribble going while also turning over the cones with their hands. Then the 2 teams switched their roles.

Intermediate Yoshi Tag April 4 2025

Students wrapped up the week playing one of their favorite invasion games- Yoshi Tag where there are 2 teams and both are trying to get all their players across the center line and into the rectangle opposite their starting side.

Primary Spot Shooting April 2-4, 2025

Students took turns using their shooting cues to practice their basketball shooting.

Primary Basketball unit shooting and dribbling

Students learned proper technique for dribbling (pushing off finger pads, waist high with the dribble and eyes up) and did a series of dribbling games like bubble breakers where students need to walk/jog or dribble to the next polyspot on the floor. Next they had to dribble 7 times on the spot to pop the bubble and were challenged to pop as many bubbles as they could in a set amount of time.

Pac Man Dribble Tag Intermediate grades March 10-14, 2025

Students kicked off their basketball unit working on dribbling technique and then some build up games including Pac Man Dribble tag where several students are the Pac people and try to tag other players while dribbling their basketball. Other players dribble their ball and try to avoid the Pac people while also staying on the lines of the court.

Volleyball tournament intermediate grades March 4-7, 2025

Twinning with 1st grade!

Lucky Duck Intermediate grades Feb 28 2025

On a rare occasion there are other events that need to use the PE space during our class. We talk about working together as a community and how in order to care for each other sometimes we make sacrifices for the good of others. Additionally, we get the opportunity to practice winning and losing playing a game called Lucky Duck. It is a series of mini competitions involving dice, coins, cards and rock paper scissors. Students compete and work to get rid of all their popsicle sticks (if you win you give up your stick).

Newcomb game Intermediate grades

Students in the intermediate grades learned and played a new game called Newcomb where students apply the spacing and placement concepts of volleyball to a throwing and catching game. Students throw the ball over the net and the opposing team needs to catch the ball before it hits the ground then pass to a teammate or throw the ball back over the net.

Parents and Staff from Decatur came together for some pick up basketball on Thursday Feb 20th. It was a great time!