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dbryce@journalnet.com

ARIMO -- Sandra Smith encourages her students to get loud and be boisterous.

She even joins in the fun. Smith helped form a dance and juggling unit and created a circuit training course at Marsh Valley Middle School.

Smith, who was just named Idaho Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, said if kids are having fun, they're less like to get in trouble. Principal Linda Riechart and school counselor Denise Burgoon nominated Smith for the award, which was presented by the Idaho Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance last month.

Smith started teaching in 1991 and has been at the middle school for the past seven years. When she learned that she had won the statewide award, it made her want to work even harder.

''It kind of makes you feel like, you better step up your program,'' Smith said.

Among the list of accomplishments on the nomination letter was the creation of a circuit training center at the rural school. Smith secured grant money and used a vacant room behind the school's gymnasium to house the training center.

Circuit training is a type of interval training in which strengthening exercises are combined with endurance and aerobic exercises. It combines the benefits of both a cardiovascular and strength training workout.

As her seventh-grade class played a round of continuous cricket Wednesday, Smith cheered and kept score.

Smith knew in high school that she wanted to teach.

''Teaching allows you to be creative and I get to work with kids,'' Smith said.

She and her husband, Craig, who teaches eighth-grade physical education and health at Marsh Valley Middle School, have been married 36 years. They have five children and 10 grandchildren and live a little more than a mile from the school.

''On good days, I walk to work,'' Smith said.

Smith attended Brigham Young University in Provo, BYU-Idaho in Rexburg and Idaho State University. She has certificates in elementary and secondary education.

When she's not in the gym or the classroom, Smith enjoys gardening, backpacking and skiing. She loves to walk when the weather allows, and averages more than three miles per day.

Smith also competes in a number of fun runs and competitive events in Pocatello.

She said the rural school suits her.

''I see some kids that have it pretty tough at home. There are kids that the only meals they get are breakfast and lunch here,'' she said. ''But we have a super group of students and I hope that they know the teachers care.''

It's hard for her to imagine doing anything else.

''If I had to choose, I would probably do landscaping,'' she said. ''I'm always working in my yard.''

By Debbie Bryce

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