TEACHER'S CORNER: SPORTS FUN TRANSLATES INTO CLASSROOM LESSONS

JACKSON -- Joseph Graefe tries to make learning fun for his students by combining his enjoyment of football and goal-setting.

Graefe is a 13-year teaching veteran who currently teaches fourth-graders at St. Paul Lutheran School. He likes to use a program called "Goalpost Geography" to help students learn about the world.

The program requires each student to select an NFL team and keep track of its travels during the regular season while learning about the different regions of the United States. By doing so, students learn about urban life, as well as the country's physical and cultural features, said Graefe.

"Students find different ways of describing key positions of the Earth's features, and they learn characteristics about major cities, such as whether the city is landlocked or not," he said. "It's a great activity that really sparks a child's interest in his or her world."

Graefe said he receives gratification whenever a student sets and meets a high goal for themselves. For example, one particularly memorable experience occurred when 27 students read for over 99,000 minutes over a three-month span.

"It was truly great to see these kids read whenever they had the opportunity so they could meet their goal," he said. "Nothing brings me greater joy than to see them get excited about learning."

Graefe is a graduate of Concordia University in Wisconsin. He has a 7-year old son named Michael and enjoys bowling, photography, gardening and coin collecting.