One organization. Hundreds of members. Thousands of stories. Lifelong connections. This is SHAPE PA.
On Nov. 13 and Nov. 14, SHAPE PA (Society of Health & Physical Educators) held their annual conference at the Blair County Convention Center in Altoona, Pa. This was the first time in the organization’s history they held the conference in Altoona.
Chance Condran serves as the 2025 President of SHAPE PA and was in charge of this year’s conference.
“I wanted to make it a really meaningful and impactful conference for all of our attendees,” Condran said. “I don’t like boring and sitting, so whenever we have a whole group session, [ I ] really wanted to bring that energy and set the tone for the day.”
In order to achieve this goal, he reached out to Tom Palfey, a physical education (phys. ed) teacher at Altoona.
“[I asked] if he wanted to bring some Altoona kids over and shine a light on them,” Condran said.
On the morning of Nov. 14, the Lioneers, cheer team and the pep band all arrived at the convention center to welcome attendees.
“It was a great experience for everybody,” Condran said. “It brought the energy up and everyone coming in had a smile on their faces.”
This decision was well received by attendees.
“What I appreciated the most about the conference in Altoona was that the school was involved,” former SHAPE PA president Betty Ann Fish said. “As an audience participant, I felt the passion of all those students. That passion – as educators – is equal to our passion, and seeing that is pretty darn amazing.”
Condran’s time as president will officially come to a close at the end of 2025, but he looks forward to what the future of the organization holds.
“I hope I left our SHAPE PA better than I found it,” he said. “[I hope] we continue to build off of what we had before and keep our momentum going forward.”
On Jan. 1, President – Elect Linda Miller will start her term as the 2026 SHAPE PA President.
“I’ve always been behind the scenes, and it was time for me to step up to the plate,” she said.
During her presidency, Miller hopes to visit every college and university that offers health and physical education to visit with students before they head out to teach and hopes they will join SHAPE PA. To help keep her goals in mind, she has a mantra she follows.
“Merge the past with the present to impact the future,” Miller said.
2026 will mark the 105th anniversary of SHAPE PA. Although the organization has undergone many name changes over the years, the goals have remained the same.
“It [SHAPE PA] has its roots in the professional development for all the people who are health and physical education people,” former president Rick Steveson said. “We want to do a better job at what they [educators] are doing. They are health and physical educators across the state, and we provide as much enrichment as we can for them to do a better job.”
For many, such as former presidents Deborah Lawler and Fish, SHAPE PA has been part of their lives for over 30 years.
While she was still in school, Lawler served as Student Section President for the organization.
“I sat in on meetings that left and right and across from me [were] people that I just thought the most of,” she said. “I thought they ran the world of health and PE. I was in awe every time I walked into the room.”
Fast forward 33 years, and Lawler served as the 2021 SHAPE PA President.
“It was a time in my life where I had to take a step back and say, ‘Okay, I can’t believe I’m holding that title,’” Lawler said. “I’m sitting and I’m at the other end of the table, able to carry on traditions, start new traditions and be joyful in the craft I have.”
Fish joined the organization early on in her career as an educator, and has now been part of SHAPE PA for 42 years. As she became a more “seasoned” educator, she chose to give back, joining committees and being on the Board of Directors, before serving as president in 2022.
“When I joined, what I loved was I was embraced, brought in and felt like family from day one,” she said. “Everybody just made me feel like family, and I do consider SHAPE PA my second family.”
Joanne Leight is on the Board of Directors for SHAPE PA. She has been involved with the organization for 25 years, and got involved after taking a job at her Alma Mater, Slippery Rock University.
“I’ve spent half my life in this organization,” Leight said. “I have so many people who I admire and look up to, and who forged the way for me to be able to do this for my students.”
Danielle Butterworth has been with the organization since she was an undergraduate student and now brings her students to SHAPE PA conferences.
“We really support our future and our current professionals in the field,” Butterworth said. “Staying in touch with one another and learning from each other however we can. We all go off into our own districts and universities throughout the year, but this is a special time where we get together to reconnect.”
Ryan Woomer is a college senior. He got involved with SHAPE PA due to his secondary school physical education teacher telling him to join once he was in college. Since then, he is in his third year with the organization, even presenting at a national convention in March.
“It [presenting] jumped me over that bridge,” Woomer said. “I’m not always the most outgoing person, but speaking at a national conference, it pushed me over. Now I can go up to anyone and be like, ‘What’s up?’”
Dave Schmidt is a former SHAPE PA president and is in his final year of teaching at Northern Allegheny high school. Although he is retiring, he has no plans to stop teaching – or SHAPE PA.
“I want to keep teaching,” he said. “I feel like I have a vision of what we can do, and what we can do better. Hopefully, [I can] work at a university level where I can broaden my impact.”
Colleen Wegimont joined the SHAPE PA organization 30 years ago. She has served on 10 committees within the organization, and once she retired from teaching, she served as president.
“I retired from teaching but not the profession,” Wegimont said. “This organization is my passion. [Once I retired], I knew I would have the time to spend doing it [being president] the way I was supposed to do.”
Even now, Wegimont still attends conferences for SHAPE PA.
“I am 72 years old, I’m a retiree, but I still come to these because they still lift you up,” she said. “This is what SHAPE PA is all about. It’s a family, a professional family. We pick up where we left off.”
