About Us

supportREALteachers.org is an initiative of the Center for Advancement of Standards-based Physical Education Reform (CASPER), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. CASPER was founded in 1998 by Dr. Cathrine Himberg and consists of REAL teachers, parents, school administrators, and other stake holders concerned about quality physical education. We are mainly a volunteer based program based out of California State University - Chico, where Executive Director Cathrine Himberg, PhD teaches in the Physical Education Teacher Education program. ​

Our mission is to challenge physical education programs to be a part of the solution to the problem of physical inactivity in our society. We advocate for quality physical education taught by REAL physical education teachers in order to help ALL students develop the skills, the knowledge, and the desire they need to become physically active now and for the rest of their lives. We also advocate respect for the physical education profession by holding teachers and school administrators accountable for meaningful, quality physical education that is congruent with the national standards and appropriate practices.

Contact us at supportREALteachers@gmail.com.

Why our Site is 100% Free

​​​We believe that everything we do and create is inspired by, learned from, and/or adapted from others. This includes classes we have taken, books we have read, conversations we have had with others in the profession, conferences we have attended, engagement we have had with social media, etc. And so to take from these resources, which many are free, and then charge for our content just does not seem right. In addition, our main goal is to support teachers and putting resources behind a paywall does not help us achieve that goal.

We also do not host advertising or do "quid-pro-quo" cross linking. We want our site to be as fast and clutter free as possible; and we also want our visitors to know that external links on our site are only there because we think they are beneficial. While we do not have a formal list of inclusion and exclusion criteria, our curating decisions are based on: quality of resource, quality of website hosting the resource, redundancy with other resources already on our site, and cost (must be free with little to no advertising clutter). ​​​

We think it is important to say that this is our philosophy. We understand that teachers and others often need to augment their income and therefore are totally okay with those that earn revenue through their online work and contributions.

Executive Director: Cathrine (Catrina) Himberg, PhD​

"I started CASPER in 1998 because I was frustrated about seeing so many inappropriate practices being used in physical education classes (earned ). Over the years many of my graduate students helped improve our website, and when Kevin Shephard came on board in 2008 the site expanded into something much more comprehensive. Since then we've continued adding more great tools and resources to help support REAL teachers of quality physical education. My day job is as a professor of Kinesiology at California State University – Chico. I teach future physical education teachers, as well as dance and yoga for the general student population. I love what I do, and hope that my passion for physical activity, along with the skills and concepts I teach, help my students find their own craving for being physically active, reap all the benefits, and teach others what they learn! I was born and raised in Norway, and came to the US at age 19 to go to college. I earned a B.S. from East Carolina University in Communications, an M.A. in Exercise Physiology from Chico State, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech."

Cathrine was also an original contributor to PECentral and received the NASPE Presidential Award in 2005 and the 2015-2016 Outstanding Professor Award from CSU Chico. You can read more about her in this Inside Chico State article.

Associate Director/Webmaster/Social Media: Kevin Shephard, MA

"I joined the organization in 2008 when I was in the graduate program at CSU Chico. At that time the website was known as CASPER and focused primarily on the REAL teacher’s pledge, along with some advocacy pieces (see below for pictures of the old site). My initial role in the organization was to clean up the old website and make it a little more streamlined. However, as a future teacher at that time, I began thinking of what I would want in a professional physical education website. From there we began brainstorming of what type of content and support new teachers would need and thus supportREALteachers.org was born. Since then we have continued to add to the site and are looking forward to its continued evolution. I thank all parties who have contributed to making our site what it is today!"

Kevin Shephard retired from teaching due to a genetic condition but still continues to work on the website. Award recipient for the 2023 SHAPE America Joy of Effort.

Associate Director/Webmaster: Collin Brooks, PhD

"I have recently joined the organization in 2021. I am excited to contribute to supportREALteachers and advocate for effective teaching practices in physical education.  I believe that teachers should have easy access to quality resources to help them as they pursue methods to improve their practices; that's why the work of supportREALteachers and other quality resources is so important.  I am currently an Assitant Professor of Physical and Health Education at the University of West Georgia. Before I started my work within higher education, I was an elementary physical education teacher in Bend, Oregon. I love pulling on my practical experience from my K-12 teaching days as  I work closely with future teachers. Throughout my career, professional involvement, advocacy, and effective teaching have been my passion. I have enjoyed blogging over the year for PHYSEDagogy.com and serving in the past as a Board of Director for SHAPE America. Further, as National Board Certified Teacher, I believe in the importance and power of teacher leadership."
Interviews about our work
past Contributors (1998-2008)
Lindsay Buckley
John Chen
Dan DeJager
J. Michael Evans
Lise Evans
Matthew Cummiskey
​Gayle Hutchinson
Angie Ladd
Dolly Lambdin
Brian Malkinson
Mark Manross
Bane McCracken
Steve McLaughlin
Jenni Nelson
Natalie Page
Jenna Robinson 
Jennine Sanfilippo