The Online Reflector

University of Indianapolis kinesiology faculty Mindy Mayol and Jennifer VanSickle were recently honored with two statewide awards.

Both awards were from the Indiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (IAHPERD). Mayol won the award for Professional/Leisure Educator of the Year, while VanSickle was awarded Sport Management Educator of the Year.

IAHPERD is part of a national association and works with professionals affiliated with schools across Indiana and occasionally works with events for community education.

VanSickle, Associate Professor of Kinesiology, said that the annual awards are given to exemplary professors in Indiana who teach sport management.

The awards were presented at a dinner on Nov.10 by Chair of Kinesiology Lisa Hicks.

VanSickle was nominated by a member in the organization, and she attributes her win to her relationship with many community organizations. She was part of a project with the Pacers that helped them survey fans about sponsorship recognition. She also teaches a class that plans the Special Olympics Youth Basketball tournament. She has previously worked with the YMCA and the Indianapolis Parks Foundation.

“Dr. VanSickle has been instrumental in creating partnerships with our business community in the sports area,” Hicks said. “The development of those partnerships and class projects really made her stand out to achieve that award.”

Hicks said that Mayol developed content for UIndy’s wellness courses and that she is very deserving of this award, because she is involved in promoting wellness and physical fitness on campus.

“She’s very passionate about what she does and takes her work very seriously,” said junior Allison Rodgers, one of Mayol’s honors students. “She has high expectations for herself and her students.”

Hicks noted Mayol’s enthusiasm for teaching and for projects, and said that VanSickle uses a project-based learning style that focuses on giving students experience with real-world organizations prior to graduation.

“We actually give the students a certain project to work on and then they learn the material through working on that project,” VanSickle said. “We try to do unique things that help students prepare for a career in sports, and I kind of think that’s what this award is looking for. It’s a great honor [to win this award].”

This was Mayol’s and VanSickle’s first time winning these awards.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Mayol said. “I certainly think I’ve been doing a lot of fun things at UIndy. But sometimes people don’t expect to get the awards they get, so it was a nice surprise.”

Mayol said there were many criteria to be considered for her award; while she did not expect to win, she said she met and exceeded some of the criteria.

“They don’t tell you exactly why [you won], but I think some things would be authoring a textbook, ‘Wellness: the Total Package,’ which is used by our wellness classes here,” Mayol said.

Mayol’s book is used at five other universities. She considers the award to be an honor and attributes the win to the leadership skills she has demonstrated teaching Wellness and Fitness courses, as well as her textbook.

“Her teaching style was more informal, and she always said that the information given in the class was to help us, so we should make it personal to ourselves or it was going to be a waste of a class,” Rodgers said. “Professor Mayol will try her best to help you succeed, or help you get in contact with those who could better help you than herself.”

Mayol noted that her approach in teaching is more student-based.

“As a teacher, you always have to be implementing new and innovative ways to reach your students and bring the message home to them,” she said.

Mayol and VanSickle both feel that winning the award will not have an effect on their current teaching styles.

“They’re both very deserving candidates, and we, as a department, are proud,” Hicks said.