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Congratulations to Mrs. Tina Neal
Chahta-Ima 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year.
We are very proud of you.

Mrs. Tina Neal has been teaching Physical Education at Chahat-Ima Elementary for the past 6 years.

This past year, Mrs. Neal worked diligently in the Chahta-Ima Elementary school community of Lacombe, Louisiana. She designed and chaired the fundraising efforts to build the new play structure on our school’s playground. She co-chaired the“Play Project” with a local resident who is also a community activist. Her efforts included, placing several “Pennies for our Playground” jars in local businesses, writing two grants, and gathering local newspaper publicity. The grant revenues from the non-profit organization, KaBoom!, were $4,500 and the Mandeville,
Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas Rotary Clubs donated over $30,000. During the evolution of this project,
Mrs. Neal advanced her position as an advocate for “play.”


Congratulations to Mrs. Tina Neal Chahta-Ima 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year. We are very proud of you. Mrs. Tina Neal has been teaching Physical Education at Chahat-Ima Elementary for the past 6 years. This past year, Mrs. Neal worked diligently in the Chahta-Ima Elementary school community of Lacombe, Louisiana. She designed and chaired the fundraising efforts to build the new play structure on our school’s playground. She co-chaired the“Play Project” with a local resident who is also a community activist. Her efforts included, placing several “Pennies for our Playground” jars in local businesses, writing two grants, and gathering local newspaper publicity. The grant revenues from the non-profit organization, KaBoom!, were $4,500 and the Mandeville, Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas Rotary Clubs donated over $30,000. During the evolution of this project, Mrs. Neal advanced her position as an advocate for “play.”




Her early childhood and life-long education were instrumental in her decision to become a physical education teacher. Having grown up in Slidell, Louisiana with three older brothers, she had no choice but to play. She followed her brothers everywhere. If they played football, she played football. If they went fishing, she was not far behind. Mrs. Neal's summers were spent riding a bicycle all over town. As a result, when she entered school, she found that she was more athletic than most girls. All of her friends were cheerleaders and dancers; she ran track and played basketball. In retrospect, she realized that play was important to my early development, as well as her later education and professional experiences. Having worked with her own children and the students in school, she recognized the importance of play and movement to the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of every child. Hence, she will always fight for the right for every child to play.

Mrs. Neal's greatest accomplishments as an educator were measured by the success and happiness of the students she worked with both personally and professionally. She felt fortunate to be in an area of education that allowed her to be with her students for many years. In this time together, she considered it her job not only to make sure they had the basic movement experiences needed at each grade level, but to make them want to become lifelong movers.

Her philosophy of education has not changed over her many years of teaching. She believes that every child, regardless of physical and mental abilities or infirmities, has a right to an equal education-an education that develops the whole child; One that is intertwined in the physical and mental; one that in turn will create a socially responsible citizen. She believes she does this in her physical education classes. She teaches a movement directed curriculum based on the “Every Child A Winner” model. It teaches movement through critical thinking activities that are aimed at allowing every child to find and explore their own movement potential. To teach a child not only how to move, but why one moves in certain situations will carry on in every part of the child’s life. Mrs. Neal believes that play, movement education, physical education, kinesiology, all have the same meaning. However, some of these words gather more respect than the others. This is unfortunate in education today. We must give children opportunities to grow in all areas. If we do not let children play, how will they learn social skills such as turn taking, empathy, and leadership? How will they become healthy active adults? Today’s children are given so many intellectual challenges. We, as educators, must make sure their physical needs are also met. There is a quote from Plato Mrs. Neal has loved for many years. It states that “The mere athlete is brutal and Philistine, the mere intellectual: unstable and spiritless. The right education must tune the strings of the body and mind to perfect spiritual harmony.”