Monthly Archives: April 2012

Honoring CASA 2011-2012 Outstanding Professor Dr. Shirley Reekie

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Shirley Reekie, Department Chair of Kinesiology, who was recently honored as the CASA Outstanding Professor 2011-2012.  A faculty member since 1982, she has served as the Department Chair of Kinesiology since 2006. She has taught a wide variety of courses across all four programs in Kinesiology: Graduate, Undergraduate, General Education, and Activity. As the department Advising Manager from 1989-1994, she mentored thousands of students. Her contributions are substantial, highlighted by exemplary teaching, service, and scholarship at San José State University, representing the best of the Spartan Spirit.

Dr. Reekie’s scholarship includes publications in national and international comparative physical education and sport journals, and education journals, book chapters on sport in China, and encyclopedia entries on sailing, kayaking, and sport history. She has published a book on sailing and just published a second book, Bean Bags to Bod Pods: A History of 150 Years of San José State University’s Department of Kinesiology.

With an eye cast toward global sport, she created the Center for International Physical Education and Sport in 1991 and continues to serve as the Director of the Center, sponsoring student and faculty international exchanges, including study programs for students from various Chinese universities.

A water sport enthusiast, Dr. Reekie developed the sailing, kayaking, and rowing programs at SJSU.  Over the last 18 years, she has obtained approximately $60,000 in grant funding to purchase sailboats and kayaks. During her tenure at SJSU, Dr. Reekie has instructed over 3,000 students in these lifetime physical activities. As a competitive sailor and Master’s level rower, she models an active lifestyle. Her unabashed enthusiasm for physical activity is transferred to her students and faculty.

Community service has been an additional focus of her career, including work with Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation, City of San Jose Parks and Recreation, and Los Gatos Rowing Club.

Through her teaching excellence, commitment to students, scholarship, and service to the university, community, and professional organizations, Dr. Reekie exemplifies the qualities of an Outstanding Professor.

Reflections on Admitted Spartan Day: Kinesiology Major Writes about Growth & Confidence


As I stepped out of my car at 7:30am (yep I’m a commuter student), I felt the morning drowsiness slowly fade, replaced with déjà vu. It hit me when I bumped into a shuffling high school senior on my way to the Pre-Physical Therapy Club and Kinesiology Ambassadors tables at Admitted Spartan Day. “Hey,” I thought. I passed several more timid, wide-eyed students. “I was YOU. And YOU. Oh, and YOU too. Just one year ago.”

What a difference a year makes. One year ago, I was a Washington High School student (Fremont, CA), terrified at the thought of riding public transportation to SJSU. Almost one year ago, on April 16th 2011, I timidly walked toward the same Pre-Physical Therapy Club table, smiling nervously and stammering out questions in a clumsy manner. Yet this weekend, on April 14th 2012, I deliberately strode with a purpose toward the club tables. Wearing a Pre-Physical Therapy Club t-shirt and an invisible, yet proud, badge of “college student status” courage, I was ready to help make incoming students feel welcome and ready to help them move on to the next big stages in their lives.

There were moments of light-hearted laughter when it seemed as if a parent was planning to attend SJSU in the fall rather than their child. There was also excitement when talking with a student who had clearly given thought to future careers. It wasn’t until Admitted Spartan Day was in full swing that I realized how lucky I was. I never thought I would be laughing with the club officers, role models, students who I hope to be as successful as in the next few years. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I knew a lot more about kinesiology curriculum than I had thought! Education works.

I am grateful for the opportunities SJSU offers to students to get involved in the Spartan community. Most importantly, I am grateful for the friendly spirit that makes up Kinesiology, composed of individuals eager to teach, learn, grow, and make our world of physical activity a better place.

By Erin Enguero, Kinesiology Major, KIN Ambassador

Journey through SJSU History: Dr. Reekie’s Recent Book Documents the History of Kinesiology at SJSU


Our department chair, Dr. Shirley Reekie, recently published a labor of love: Bean Bags to Bod Pods: A History of 150  Years of San José State University’s Department of Kinesiology.

The book is a chronicle of the 150 year history of physical activity, physical education, and Kinesiology  Department at San Jose State University, believed to be the first public system of physical education (kinesiology) in  higher education in the West. The release of this book could not have had better timing as the Department of  Kinesiology celebrates its 150th birthday this semester.

The book was written to inform SJSU students, faculty, alumni, and friends about the rich heritage of SJSU and to  celebrate the growth of the KIN department. By locating the narrative in the context of the major social and political  movements of the times, Dr. Reekie provides a glimpse into U.S. history observed through the lens of physical  activity and its study. As a majority of the students in the early years were women, this history devotes significant  time to women and their important contributions to the institution.

“Bean bags I know. What are Bod Pods?”

Bean bags were a staple piece of low tech, inexpensive equipment used by most early physical educators and, similar  to many good ideas, are still in use today, particularly by elementary educators to teach catching and throwing  patterns. Bod Pods are modern, high tech devices used by researchers to determine the body composition (percent  fat and lean) of a participant by means of a highly accurate measurement of body volume in a sealed chamber. These  two pieces of technology are examples of the dynamic changes that have taken place in our subject area.

Although the book narrative is centered on the story of San José State, it also provides a window to better understand the growth of physical education across the past two centuries.

Copies of the book can be purchase on Amazon.com or in the Kinesiology Office (SPX 56, 9am – 4pm., M-F). Join us  on a journey through higher education in the US, and share in the amazing story of how physical education and  activity have helped shape SJSU.