Mr. Cherry Bio

Ryan Cherry is from Brooklyn, Michigan and attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is a highly qualified educator who spent the last 15 years working in various educational settings around the Midwest. After seeing his high school soccer coach be an influential role model in the lives of his elementary students, he studied elementary education in college as he sought to also positively impact the lives of students. This is his 8th year at Decatur. He did his student teaching in 5th grade at Cleveland School in Chicago. He taught Language Arts and Math in a 5th grade classroom in Brookfield, IL, all subjects in a 4th through 6th grade room at a public Montessori school in Indiana and at Hibbard Elementary in CPS before coming to Decatur in 2017.

Mr. Cherry is inquisitive and curious about the people and world around him. He enjoys reading as it a great avenue to better understand people and our world. He agrees with Dr. Seuss that "the more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go." Mr. Cherry is filled with immense excitement about the chance to teach physical education, as it combines his passion for physical activity and sports with the joy of engaging with students and supporting them enthusiastically. He is fascinated by neuroscience and its intersection with physical activity and is grateful for the chance to have students four days each week to encourage their physical activity.

He is passionate about seeing students gain confidence in their abilities to be successful in both the classroom and the world and become well rounded individuals who care for others as they care for themselves. In his free time, Mr. Cherry enjoys playing sports, spending time with friends and family and enjoying a delicious slice of pie with some strong coffee.

Posts

Primary Basketball unit shooting and dribbling

Students learned proper technique for dribbling (pushing off finger pads, waist high with the dribble and eyes up) and did a series of dribbling games like bubble breakers where students need to walk/jog or dribble to the next polyspot on the floor. Next they had to dribble 7 times on the spot to pop the bubble and were challenged to pop as many bubbles as they could in a set amount of time.

Pac Man Dribble Tag Intermediate grades March 10-14, 2025

Students kicked off their basketball unit working on dribbling technique and then some build up games including Pac Man Dribble tag where several students are the Pac people and try to tag other players while dribbling their basketball. Other players dribble their ball and try to avoid the Pac people while also staying on the lines of the court.

Volleyball tournament intermediate grades March 4-7, 2025

Twinning with 1st grade!

Lucky Duck Intermediate grades Feb 28 2025

On a rare occasion there are other events that need to use the PE space during our class. We talk about working together as a community and how in order to care for each other sometimes we make sacrifices for the good of others. Additionally, we get the opportunity to practice winning and losing playing a game called Lucky Duck. It is a series of mini competitions involving dice, coins, cards and rock paper scissors. Students compete and work to get rid of all their popsicle sticks (if you win you give up your stick).

Newcomb game Intermediate grades

Students in the intermediate grades learned and played a new game called Newcomb where students apply the spacing and placement concepts of volleyball to a throwing and catching game. Students throw the ball over the net and the opposing team needs to catch the ball before it hits the ground then pass to a teammate or throw the ball back over the net.

Parents and Staff from Decatur came together for some pick up basketball on Thursday Feb 20th. It was a great time!

1st Basketball Game Hosted at Decatur

We were privileged to host the first basketball game at Decatur this week. It was a memorable experience for our students to play in their own gym in front of fans. Thanks to Coach Kyle Stork, Coach Brandon Belissimo and our great administrators Principal Marisol Negron and AP Lizzie Martino.

Bowling Primary Grades Feb 10-14, 2025

It was great to see the smiles and fun the primary students had while they participated in our bowling unit. There were amazing dance celebrations, students cheering each other on and learning new skills!

Bowling Feb 3-7, 2025 PE

This week we partnered with the Illinois Bowlers Education Program who provided us equipment and resources to help teach students about bowling. Students got to practice their form in a variety of ways then use bowling carpet lanes to bowl with their classmates. Thanks to Ms B, a bowling specialist with the program who came out and helped support our students.

Hoop Hop Showdown Intermediate Grades

This week while working in a different space due to the winter show, students got to play a game called Hoop Hop Showdown where 2 teams needed to hop through the hula hoops path and when they meet a player from the opposing team the two players have a rock paper scissors showdown. The winner keeps going and the other player goes to the end of their line and a new player starts at the beginning of the path.

Volleyball Battleship Intermediate Grades Jan 24, 2025

Students this week practiced their serving skills through the game Volleyball Battleships where both teams try to serve into one of the hula hoops set up by the other team. If a player hits the serve into the hoop then that "battleship" is sunk. Whatever team sinks the most ships in the time allocated is the winning team.

Bump and Set 4 Square Volleyball

Students practiced their bumping and setting skills in the context of a 4 square like game. One player started as the server and tossed the ball to a teammate who tried to either set or bump the ball to another teammate. The goal was to try to get an many consecutive hits in a row while using proper technique. If a mistake was made, students rotated and started again.

Locomotor Noodle Tag

Students had fun practicing different locomotor movements like hop, leap, gallop, skip, etc. while playing Locomotor Noodle Tag where students get a card of a particular locomotor movement then they move in the playing area only in this manner. If they get tagged by one of the taggers with a pool noodle they go and switch cards for a new locomotor movement. Taggers were changed every few minutes. Lots of great moments!

A famous Christmas Elf walked through the 7 layers of the candy cane forest all the way to Decatur for the last day of school before winter break!

Name: Ryan Cherry
Position: Physical Education
Email: rrcherry@cps.edu