Fulfilling a Dream: Ryan Deguire ’22 Makes an Impact on His Students
By Judith Kelliher
As a health teacher at Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y., Ryan Deguire ’22 does not shy away from hard work and making an impact on the lives of his students. Besides teaching five sections of Health each day to 10th graders, he runs the Health Occupation Students of America Club at school, is a member of the local community’s Wellness Committee, and coaches freshman football, junior varsity basketball, and girls’ varsity flag football throughout the school year.
With all those responsibilities, Deguire is most grateful for his connections with those he educates.
“My favorite part of my job is getting to know my students and helping them in any way that I can, including getting to interact with both current and former students in the hallways in between classes, during lunch, before school, and after school,” he said. “My mom is a teacher, so growing up I always had the opportunity to see firsthand how impactful her job is and how much positivity you can bring to the world with it.”
Growing up, Deguire knew he always wanted to do something involving sports, whether it was physical education, athletic training, as a college-level coach, or professional athlete. His trajectory to wanting to become a physical education teacher began when he was young because of his “Love for every single one of my teachers from elementary to high school. They were always my favorite and biggest role models.”
Springfield College helped him fulfill his dream. Deguire studied both Physical Education and Health Education, with the goal of becoming a physical education teacher and coach so he could motivate students in extracurricular activities as well.
“I truly believe Springfield College sets the bar and standard for every physical education/health education program out there. Springfield College could not have done a better job preparing me for my career,” he said.
Within Deguire’s first month at the College, he worked with students from a local pre-school, which he felt was important because it gave him the experience and insight to realize this is what he wanted to pursue as a career. He also found the modules leading up to the fieldwork experiences were very detailed and set him up for success in his student teaching.
“The in-depth detail Springfield had us go into with our lessons and observing us set us up to be a much higher-quality, experienced, and professional teacher than anywhere else,” said Deguire, who was a member of the Physical Education/Health Education Club on campus.
Deguire believes the future of physical education in schools is heading in the direction of a more lifelong health and wellness skills-based foundation. He sees it as becoming more about how to promote positive lifestyle changes and habits and giving students the knowledge and abilities to make those changes. And the College’s Humanics philosophy of focusing on spirit, mind, and body fits perfectly into that view.
“The Physical Education program does a terrific job of preparing our educators to help our students to better themselves as a whole person, which is why our graduates will always be at the front leading,” Deguire said. “The Humanics philosophy is not just something that is talked about at Springfield. It is taught to us, performed, and carried on throughout our careers and lives.”
It wasn’t just his academics at Springfield College that shaped who Deguire has become. He played five years (an extra year due to COVID in 2020) on the football team, which he describes as the best experience of his life so far. He sincerely believes that the culture and tradition within the program cannot be matched by any program in the country. His best football moment came in his fifth year when the team started off 1-3, but went on to win the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference championship. While winning the championship was a highlight, Deguire will always cherish how the team learned to come together, even when things were not going well, and accomplished their goal as a brotherhood.
“The bonds and relationships I developed with them will forever have a lasting impact on me, and ones that I strive to have with my future student-athletes as a coach,” Deguire said. “I can’t even put into words to express the impact Coach Cerasuolo has had on my life. I have never seen someone care for his players and have their backs like he does.”
The biggest part of Deguire’s Springfield College story though is that his brother and sister also chose to attend the College specifically because of his positive experiences.
“That says everything that you may need to know about Springfield College. It made them feel comfortable and at home,” Deguire said. “As an older brother, I could not have been happier to see them attend Springfield because I knew that each would be a better person and successful leaving there because of the people.”
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