Instructor named P.E. teacher of year

Darren Neels, a teacher at Clippard Elementary School in Cape Girardeau, was selected as Missouri Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance for 2017.

He will receive the award during the 2017 MOAHPERD convention held at The Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, Missouri, on Nov. 11.

As the Missouri Teacher of the Year, Neels is one of the candidates for the nine-state Central District Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year honor. The person selected as the Central District recipient will then be one of six finalists for the National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year honor.