by Jen Myers

It’s spring and that means – soccer season! In the gym at the McAuliffe Elementary School, teacher Anna Cayer is preparing her students for whatever may happen out on the soccer pitch – even alligators trying to steal soccer balls.

The day’s lesson starts with warm up exercises including stretches and yoga to help the kids center themselves and loosen up. Then, they move on to drills focused on dribbling and ball control. Once they seem to have that down, the gators arrive, challenging them to use the skills they have practiced when faced with a challenge.

In this case, the challenge is a gator (one of their classmates) trying to kick the ball away so they cannot score a goal.

The music in the gym is thumping, the kids have their most competitive faces on, and there is a fair amount of screeching and yelling. Along the way, Ms. Cayer demonstrates some techniques to outsmart the gators, helps the gators be more aggressive, and doles out a few pointers on sportsmanship.

By the end of the class, no one wants to leave the gym.

While it seems like Ms. Cayer was born in the McAuliffe gym, she took quite a roundabout path to land here.

A Lawrence native, she went to college at UMass Amherst, where she participated in the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) program, a kind of build-your-own major track. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Developing Children’s Worldview.

“I never intended on working in a school setting, I wanted to teach children about their connection with nature, history, and other cultures,” said Cayer, adding she worked for the state, running nature programs and community events, but “it got cold, and when all the kids went to school I had a choice, move to a warm climate and continue that type of work in a camp setting or try working at a school.”

She taught Special Education in Lawrence for a decade before taking a break when her children were born and pivoting to running a home daycare teaching preschool.

When her children got a little older and she was ready to return to working in public schools, she chose Lowell. She started back in Special Education, then as a classroom teacher, “but something was still missing,” she recalled.

“I wanted to focus more on social emotional learning and less on academics,” Cayer said.  “I adore my building, all the people, students and the philosophy we all live by, so when the PE position opened up, I knew it was my chance.  I would be able to spend all of my time working on communication skills, emotional regulation and of course sports skills.”

As someone who enjoys physical activities like playing volleyball and pickleball with her husband and kids, Cayer understands not only the physical benefits of regular exercise, but also the emotional benefits and the unique opportunities a gym teacher can have to help students learn important social and life skills.

“Being able to run, jump and bend helps you say yes to fun activities with friends that you otherwise would not be able to do,” she said. “In the long run, that can help them have the tools to bring themselves up when they are feeling low, both physically and emotionally.  We hope to develop life long movers!”

But, it is not just about moving and winning – it’s about working together as a team and treating those around you fairly and with kindness.

“They need to know how to communicate with other kids, especially when they disagree, and in sports, let me tell you, they disagree A LOT,” she said. “They have to learn to win and lose with grace.  Also, a great deal of patience is needed for themselves as they learn new things.  Even the students who are naturally athletic, they learn patience because many of their classmates do not have the same skills and they need to be kind and fair.”

McAuliffe Principal Dave Anderson said Ms. Cayer has been the perfect addition to their non-stop, creative, and always fun school building.

“Anna has come into this position and transformed our Physical Education program,” he said. “From the addition of SEL skills at the beginning and end of every lesson to the movement that our kids are experiencing, her classes are fast-paced, skills-based, and full of fun and learning. She embodies what is means to be physically and emotionally fit and her passion for fitness is transferred to our kids.”

In addition to the daily gym classes, Cayer has also become the school DJ and never says no to running Minute-to-Win-it and Relays at all of their school assemblies. She is always up for having fun and doing silly things if they will benefit the students’ education and overall well-being.

She has also started a Girls on the Run chapter at the school, which currently has 18 participants.

“The practice lessons give the girls tools to build their self-confidence, both inside and out,” Cayer said. “Then they get to set this goal and truly work towards it.  When they cross that finish line, cheered on by their whole team and family members it is something they are not just reading about, they are experiencing it.”

When the McAuliffe fourth-graders finish their time up at the school at the end of the year and head up to middle school, she hopes they take the lessons she has taught with them.

“I hope they fight that negative talk when it whispers to them that they can’t do something or they are not good enough,” she said. “I hope when they fall, they get back up, again and again and again.  I hope they dance, run, jump and play because life is more fun when your body is healthy.”

All About Anna Cayer

Dream Vacation: Europe
Favorite song to sing in the car: there are sooo many!! some of the regulars are Bob Marley and Mary J Blidge- LOUDLY
Favorite meal: Asian dishes
Favorite snack: cookies or any dessert
Favorite Movie:  Maleficent & Oz the Great and Powerful
Favorite Book: Untethered Soul (but I devour books, so there is a huge list- LOVE audibles)
Favorite TV Show: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Favorite Fictional Character:  Maleficent