Share the Wealth Celebrates 20 Years and
Honors Long Time Co-Directors and Others
The Share the Wealth Physical Education Conference, sponsored by the Valdosta State University Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, honored three former department employees at its 20th annual conference held at Jekyll Island, Ga. this past January. Attendance exceeded all expectations with over 1,000 people present to help celebrate the twentieth anniversary.  The STW conference began in 1987 and has experienced tremendous growth over the years.  Share the Wealth has earned the reputation and been dubbed by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) "The Premier Hands-on Physical Education Conference in America."

The goal of the conference is to promote the physical education profession and to provide a venue for physical educators to share their talents and learn new and varied ways to enhance physical education programs in their schools.  Attendees are varied and represent a number of different academic disciplines and related areas.  Along with those professionals from physical education, others attending include representatives from special education, early childhood, middle grades, after school programs, youth programs, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, and others.

Dr. John Merriman, long time department head of KPE, was the visionary for the STW conference.  It was his idea to start the conference and hold it at Jekyll Island, Georgia but he also had the forethought to charge Dr. Deb Baber and Ms. Judy Phillips (both KPE professors) with the task of assembling all the pieces to host the conference and be the co-directors.  These two ladies still hold these same positions and are as enthusiastic about the conference each year as they were in 1987.  Dr. Merriman continued to support the conference even after his retirement in 1998 and up to his death in 2006.

During the opening session of the conference a number of people were honored for their support and dedication to the conference.  Dr. Shirley Holt Hale, former president of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) was presented a plaque to honor her support for the past twenty years.  For his support, dedication, and work with and for the conference Mr. Don Puckett from Winston-Salem, NC was honored along with Dr. Merriman with the "Merriman-Puckett Young Professional Award".  Mr. Puckett is a well-known physical education specialist in the United States.  His upbeat workshops for teachers and students usually have maximum attendance. This award will provide a young physical education professional with financial assistance to attend the STW conference.  Highlight of the evening came when Dr. Baber and Ms. Phillips were honored with an endowed scholarship at Valdosta State University.  The Phillips-Baber Share the Wealth Scholarship honors the work of Phillips and Baber in perpetuating the conference.

Pictured from left to right:  Dr. Stan Andrews, Ms. Judy Phillips, and Dr. Deb Baber at the 2007 Share the Wealth Conference.  A VSU scholarship was named in honor of Ms. Phillips and Dr. Baber for their dedication and service to the conference as co-directors.

Presenting the award was Dr. Philip Gunter, Dean of the Dewar College of Education, Dr. Michael Griffin, KPE Department Head, and Dr. Stan Andrews, STW Marketing Director and Exhibits Coordinator.  During the presentation Dr. Andrews said, "Ms. Phillips and Dr. Baber have devoted twenty years of their lives to ensuring the STW conference continues to grow and be a success.  I have worked with the conference for 16 of the 20 years and without Ms. Phillips and Dr. Baber at the helm, it would have folded long ago."  Ms. Phillips and Dr. Baber each received a plaque to commemorate the event. 

The scholarship in the amount of $1,000 will be awarded to a VSU senior or graduate student majoring in Health and Physical Education annually.  For the Phillips-Baber STW Scholarship and the Merriman-Puckett Young Professional Award, name plaques will be hung in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education office that will list the names of the annual recipients.