SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Mark Raeber
Progress Staff Writer
Tami Hudson has been bringing cheer to the O’Fallon Township High School campus for nearly 22 years.
As a student there from 1975 through 1979, she was a cheerleader and pom squad member. And for the past 18 years, she has coached the school’s cheerleading squads.
For the past 11 years, she also has taught physical education to the schools’ female students full time. Though the accomplishments of her cheer squads have been significant, Hudson’s successes at introducing fitness to students have earned accolades from school administrators.
Because of her enthusiastic support of OTHS and the commitment she has made to bringing fitness to its students, Hudson was nominated for a 2008 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Excellence in Teaching Award.
Mike Day, a history teacher at OTHS, and Janice Linefelser, a reading and social studies teacher at Marie Schaefer School, are the other O’Fallon teachers who received the honor this year.
A 1979 graduate of OTHS, Hudson earned her undergraduate degree in physical education at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She will finish work on a master’s degree in educational administration at McKendree University in December. She began teaching at the high school part time 15 years ago, but she began coaching cheerleaders at the school even before that.
Hudson explained she was finishing undergraduate work at SIUE when the cheerleading coaching position opened at OTHS. When the school called to ask if she was interested in taking over the post, she hesitated at accepting because she also was the mother of two small children.
“I did not know if I could balance everything, but I did it (accepted the job) and I absolutely fell in love with it,” she said.
Cheerleading has been a passion of Hudson’s since childhood.
“Ever since I was little, I have wanted to cheer at basketball and football games, and I started cheering as soon as I could in junior high” she said. “I also cheered for a couple of years in high school but then I decided to join the poms squad because they were a competitive team and cheerleading wasn’t.
“I wanted to do the competitive thing and that was a lot of fun,” she added.
Hudson said coaching OTHS cheerleaders is a lot different than being part of the squad.
“It took a lot of learning,” she explained. “And I am still learning.”
Hudson has been an advocate of healthy, active lifestyles for as long as she can remember.
“I always enjoyed games growing up and all through high school I always loved my P.E. classes, so I decided I wanted a career in which I was active,” she said.
She chose physical education as her field because she saw the problems created when students don’t get the exercise they need. She noted the problem is particularly noticable at the elementary level, where P.E. is offered just once a week.
“I did some substituting at an elementary school before I started teaching here and on their recess, which was suppose to be P.E., the teacher decided nobody wanted to go outside so the kids watched a movie,” she said
“Kids really need to get outside because so many of them today sit around and don’t do activities,” she said. “So my teaching philosophy is to give the kids an opportunity to exercise and to learn something about fitness and the benefits of exercise,” she explained.
“A few years ago I developed a class called ‘Total Body Fitness’ that I teach here. It is a pretty popular class for junior and senior girls. We had to limit it, otherwise, there would be more sections than I could teach.
“Every day we work out and I try to make interesting,” she said. “We do some palates. We do yoga. We do step aerobics. And we do strength training in the weight room about once a week. We also have indoor and outdoor tracks where we do cardio walking or intervals with jogging and walking.”
Hudson and husband Steve are the parents of son Aaron (now married to Jenny); daughter Niki, a recent graduate of the University of Missouri; and daughter Natali, who will be a freshman at OTHS next year.
Niki was a member of her cheer squad the four years she was at OTHS. Natali will join the squad during her freshman year. Noting both of her older children were students in her classes, Hudson said, “Teaching your child is much easier than coaching your own child.”
She explained coaching one of your own is tougher because contentious issues that rise in the gym don’t always stop when parent and child get home.
Meet Tami Hudson:
Do you have words you live by?
“I am a quote person, especially with the cheerleaders. I put quotes out there to inspire them. And I think the words I use most when I am coaching are: ‘Practice for perfection. That way you are not wasting your time.’”
Whom do you most admire?
“I admire my late grandparents Gus and Vivian Soehlke and my parents Jim and Pat Soehlke.”
What is the last book you read?
“I am reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ (by Elizabeth Gilbert).”
If you could spend time with a famous person — past or present — who would it be and why?
“One of my favorite people is Pat Riley (former coach of the National Basketball Association’s Miami Heat and now an NBC sports analyst). I admire the way he coached.”
What do you do when you are not working?
“I work out at the YMCA, and I love to cook and spend time with my family.”
What’s the usual state of your desktop?
“I call it an organized mess. I know where everything is.”
If you weren’t in your current job, what would you be doing career wise?
“I would be a flight attendant because I love to travel.”
What do you think is your most outstanding characteristic?
“I can be pretty optimistic.”
What irritates you the most?
“There is no one thing I get really irritated at because I know I am probably guilty of being irritating.”
What type of music do you listen to?
“I like most music. I am not real big on Country Western but I like to listen to contemporary and rock music, and I like some of the independent artists.”
What do you like most about your job?
“I love a lot of things about my work. I love the kids and the people I work with. That is probably the most important thing; I come to school just to see them. And I like that I can go outside on nice days.”
What do you like the least about your job?
“There is nothing I do not like about my job.”
If you were independently wealthy, what would you be doing?
“I would open a fitness center somewhere where it is warm, sunny and close to a beach.”
What would people be most surprised to know about you?
“I have a twin sister (Timi McMillan) — but most people know that.”
Who would play the title role in a movie about your life?
“My daughter’s friends call me Meg Ryan so I would have to say her.”
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what would you have with you? “My family.”
