HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — We're closing out Top Teacher, highlighting our last one for the 23-24 school year.
We’re excited to introduce this one. She keeps her students on their toes quite literally! Physical fitness and fun is what drives her classroom.
Meet Coach Erica Dodd from Mt. Carmel Elementary School!
“I want them to be able to exercise without knowing they're exercising,” said Dodd.
Fun and fitness is in the curriculum in her classroom. "I'm kind of the decompress part of everyone's day, I think, for the kids."
Coach Dodd has been at it for twenty plus years. “I think they all need a break during the day. They're sitting at their desk all the time. I think they need to be active.”
Her love for physical education goes back to her lineage. “I grew up playing basketball my whole life. And so I just always knew that I didn't want to be in the classroom, you know, that’s all day in the classroom.”
“My dad was Lynn Fanning, so that's super cool to work in the same system he did. “He was a coach, he was a teacher, he was a principal,” she said.
His legacy is so significant, a school is named after him, Lynn Fanning Elementary School. One of her students, Harper Drake, loves her class.
Drake read off part of her letter to FOX54 News that she shared to other students district-wide why Coach Dodd is her favorite. Drake said she’s had Dodd for three years. “First, second and third,” said Drake.
“It was amazing. She's an amazing coach,” she added.
Dodd to Drake, is an amazing coach with creative ways to stay fit. “We play ‘Cone Sweep’. That’s a fan fave.”
Coach Dodd’s Principal, Julie Norden, believes just like her father. “Coach Todd is an integral part of our community. She is definitely one that everyone remembers when they leave Mount Carmel.”
“I just love my kiddos,” said Dodd. As for Dodd there’s no fitness without fun. “What I do all day is fun. No matter what we're doing, no matter what standard we're learning, no matter what skill we're trying to learn or conquer, it's just fun.”
{WEB EXTRA: COACH ERICA DODD SURPRISED}
