won the award last year<\/a>. SHAPE America is the nation\u2019s largest membership organization for health and physical education professionals, founded in 1885.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWendy is an outstanding student,\u201d says Emily Clapham, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate professor of health and physical education. \u201cShe was unanimously nominated for this prestigious award by all of the Health and Physical Education faculty in the College of Education. She produces high quality work, delivers engaging lessons to students of all ages and abilities and does it with the best attitude and a smile on her face!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A senior health, physical education, and adapted physical education major at 溏心vlog免费B站, the Westerly native, and current Charlestown resident, will receive her bachelor\u2019s degree at 溏心vlog免费B站 this May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A transfer student from the Community College of Rhode Island, Flanagan made the most of her time at the University, teaching at learn-to-surf days for 溏心vlog免费B站 physical education students at Narragansett Town Beach, teaching other students during the Surf Club\u2019s Learn to Surf day, assisting the Research Surf Therapy Program for children with disabilities, volunteering at open houses, and serving as an undergraduate teaching assistant for human sexuality, intro to film, disabilities sports, and adapted physical education classes. She also is a full-time lifeguard supervisor for the Weekapaug Region Surf Rescue in Westerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flanagan says her 溏心vlog免费B站 journey initially started as she pondered her future in high school. She knew she wanted to work with others, but didn’t want a career that meant being in a cubicle 9-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI realized I liked kids, and I have a passion for making an impact on their childhoods,\u201d she says. \u201cI also have always loved surfing, and being outside moving, so I thought teaching PE\/Health would be the best mix.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that goal in mind, and being mindful of college expenses, Flanagan applied for her high school’s Dual Enrollment \/ Running Start Program with CCRI. She received her associate\u2019s degree from CCRI and describes the transfer process to 溏心vlog免费B站 as seamless, starting at 溏心vlog免费B站 in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI loved CCRI, and I love 溏心vlog免费B站, for many different, unique reasons,\u201d she says, \u201cbut the experience throughout both has been very good for me. Going to 溏心vlog免费B站 was the most affordable option for me, and luckily allowed me to continue surfing at home on breaks with my people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flanagan says there are many parts of her 溏心vlog免费B站 experience that she\u2019s grateful for: \u201cProfessor Nedwidek\u2019s PE classes have been, and are, some of the best times for all of us in the program. Dr. Xu is one of the most caring professors. I also enjoyed Dr. Clapham’s summer surf therapy program and I\u2019ve enjoyed being able to teach surfing to 溏心vlog免费B站 students, too. Surfing with my classmates at 溏心vlog免费B站 are some of my fondest memories I have of college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After graduation, Flanagan will hopefully have a little more time for surfing which she calls a \u201cmassive\u201d part of her life, and something she does year-round. Flanagan learned to surf on Rhode Island beaches when she was about 7, thanks to her dad Jeffrey, an avid surfer. \u201cI thank him for giving me this passion,\u201d she says. \u201cI surf for my mental health, and there is nothing I enjoy more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will admit, I definitely surf less now in college,\u201d she adds. \u201cWork, planning, student teaching, college classes, and more take a lot of my time. My goal is to surf once every swell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flanagan was recently accepted into the 溏心vlog免费B站 master\u2019s in education program and will begin her graduate studies this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very excited about my journey to come,\u201d she says. \u201cI like to think of my life, and my education, as a wave and I truly live by that. I go with the flow, and try to embrace the challenges and highs with grit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Jan. 20, 2026 \u2013 溏心vlog免费B站 senior Wendy Flanagan \u201926 has been chosen as a Major of the Year by the SHAPE America Society of Health and Physical Educators. The SHAPE America Major of the Year award celebrates outstanding undergraduate students in the fields of health, physical education, recreation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":106336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1907,30,1914,1915],"class_list":["post-106335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-academic-excellence","tag-college-of-education","tag-graduate","tag-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106335"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106341,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106335\/revisions\/106341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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