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H-F’s Ross Howatt retires after 29 years of PE lessons

After more than 30 years at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, PE teacher Ross Howatt is retiring. Howatt said he always wanted to be a teacher — even when he was jumping out of planes as a U.S. Army paratrooper. (Provided photo)

So you think PE is nothing more than fun and games? Think again, says Ross Howatt who spent 29 years teaching physical education, health and driver’s education at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He retires in June.

After nearly 30 years at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, PE teacher Ross Howatt is retiring. (Provided photo)

“I have to say honestly first and foremost I always wanted to be a teacher,” he said. After earning a degree in sports medicine from Western Illinois University, he joined the U.S. Army and was a paratrooper “and jumped out of planes. That was fun. I did that for a couple years.”

He finally started teaching at Thornton High, his alma mater, then taught in Arizona, came back to Illinois and after a few years landed the job at H-F.

Howatt points out “there’s specific instruction” for PE.

“All of our classes, whether it’s badminton or outdoor adventure, it’s still fitness. Everything is broken down into sequence. There’s a reason why we do the sequence. It’s totally different then it used to be,” he said. “It’s so much more thorough for the student, especially in the long run.”

Keeping in great physical shape is essential, regardless of one’s age. Howatt believes the nation needs to pay attention to obesity rates that “are going through the roof” and can lead to other health complications.

One of the highlights of his time at H-F was the construction of the fieldhouse.  

“It’s just awesome what they’ve done. A lot of people put their heads together and decided what we needed and it was just beyond our expectations,” he said. The space allows for “PE during the day, sports after school, the public uses the indoor track for walking laps.”

About 10 years ago, Howatt took on driver’s education duties. When he teaches the classroom portion, he spices up his lectures with stories to illustrate what’s in the book.

“It’s a true story that’s happened to me or a friend and it helps lead into the subject that day. It makes it more believable. It makes it more legitimate and it’s true! The kids love it, too,” he said.

Howatt says he’s never taken a driver’s ed car out without testing the emergency brake on the teacher’s side of the car.

“I have kids for four weeks and sometimes it’s the fourth week and I’m still using the brake. It’s a question of identifying dangers. I know what to look for, students don’t know yet. I have some students come to driver’s ed and they’ve never driven a car” or have maybe two or three hours behind the wheel, he said. To his way of thinking, students should be driving more with parents. A driver’s ed class isn’t enough practice time.

In retirement, the Indiana resident will continue teaching driver’s ed for a private company. He’s been doing that the past year. It will keep him busy because unlike Illinois, Indiana doesn’t mandate driver’s ed for high schools. Teenagers have to go through private companies. He also will teach skills for driving a motorcycle.

And he’s an amateur craftsman who enjoys woodworking. He and his wife, Sharon, will probably resurrect a business they had selling his creations, he said.

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