From PE Teacher To School Health Leader: How Brave and Healthy Spaces Help Kids Learn, Grow, and Thrive.

From PE Teacher To School Health Leader: How Brave and Healthy Spaces Help Kids Learn, Grow, and Thrive.

From MAHPERD "Voices From The field" by MAHPERD

January 12, 2026 · 41 min · Season 1 · Episode 24

About this episode

Shannon Milliken discusses how movement and health can transform educational spaces for better learning outcomes.

Send us Fan Mail What if schools stopped rewarding quiet compliance and started designing for how kids actually learn? We sat down with Shannon Milliken—founder of Play Education and former P.E teacher turned systems leader—to unpack how movement, health, and belonging can shift classrooms from survival mode to true learning. Shannon’s story traces the arc from overachieving student to educator to advocate, and it reveals the cost of “one size fits all” schooling on kids who think, move, and ...

People in this episode

Host: MAHPERD

Guest: Shannon Milliken

Topics covered

  • school health
  • education reform
  • movement
  • belonging
  • learning environments

Keywords

  • PE teacher
  • school health leader
  • learning
  • growth
  • student advocacy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Play Education

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