MONROE - When retiring Parkside Elementary School physical education teacher Jim Ingold trades in his key and stop watch for a fishing pole as he walks out of the gym for the final time, a void in coaching and teaching experience will remain.
"I'm sure when I walk out of here, I will miss it a lot," Ingold said of teaching. "I'm looking forward to new challenges. When you do something for so long you just don't just walk out and not miss the kids and the staff."
The first challenge on his list will be taking a 10-day fishing trip to Canada.
"That is my reward for 34 years of teaching," Ingold said. "I have put in my time."
He plans to spend more time with family in retirement, watch his sons, Parker and Drake, compete in cross country and track as well as spend more time traveling.
Ingold has served as a physical education teacher in the Monroe School District for 25 years. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including serving as a Monroe Middle School cross country coach for six years and middle school wrestling for six years. He was the Monroe High School girls cross country coach for 12 years. During that span, Monroe made six WIAA state meet appearances in Division 1 and captured seven conference titles. He also spent three years as the Monroe High School wrestling coach and coached middle school track and field for eight years. Ingold spent three years as the Mat Rat youth wrestling coach.
"One thing I will always remember is if you were having one of those rotten days," Ingold said. "All it took was one kid to come up to you and give you a hug and that made you forget all those rotten things."
Before becoming a teacher, the Monroe native was an avid runner who chased his dream of competing in the Olympics. He was part of Monroe's back-to-back state champion cross country teams in 1973 and 1974. He was a member of the Cheesemakers' state champion wrestling team in 1973.
Ingold ran track and cross country at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He was inducted into the UW-La Crosse Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a two-time Wisconsin Track and Field Congress Grand Prix Running Series champion. He garnered sponsorships from Nike and Brooks shoes that allowed him to take flights to races across the country.
"If it wasn't for those sponsorships with Nike and Brooks shoes I would not have been able to travel to Spokane, Washington, and Atlanta, Georgia," he said.
During the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1981, he missed qualifying for the Olympic trials by 12 seconds. He spent many years running 5K and 10K road races. His 20-mile mark of 1 hour, 40 minutes and 20 seconds had him ranked second on the U.S. all-time list at one point. His top time in the 5K was 14:15, and his best time in the 10K was 29:20.
He competed in 5K and 10K road races until he was 39. When he suffered a herniated disc in his back that put an end to most of his racing, Ingold said.
Ingold's first teaching job came in Monticello where he taught for six years from 1982 to 1987. He was instrumental as a boys and girls cross country coach and wrestling coach in developing cooperative teams for both programs with New Glarus in his first year as a coach in 1982. The track team has now evolved into a three school co-op with New Glarus, Monticello and Belleville. The cross country team still continues its co-op with New Glarus.
"With my background as an athlete, I thought I could be a good coach," Ingold said. "I couldn't see myself doing the teaching without the coaching."
Ingold said the co-op between Monticello and New Glarus for wrestling and cross country was one of the first at the time.
"That was kind of a new thing," Ingold said of the co-op. "It gave kids a chance who didn't have a chance to play sports."
When he went back to UW-La Crosse to get his master's degree in 1987, Ingold served as an assistant cross country and track coach.
Ingold has seen many changes in how physical education is taught in elementary schools since he started teaching more than three decades ago. The emphasis on playing competitive sports in P.E. classes has gone by the wayside.
"The kids really haven't changed a lot," he said. "There is more of a fitness base now. There is more put on the teacher now with testing and assessment. The PEP grant was a lot of work, but it is something that has improved physical education. It has helped our curriculum a lot."
The fitness testing includes a trunk lift, a pacer run, a sit-and-reach, push-ups, curl-ups and a Body Mass Index test. Through the PEP (Physical Education Program) grant and training from Focus Fitness, Ingold said P.E. teachers can have students complete an activity at different intensity levels from sitting to sprinting. Ingold said P.E. teachers in the district have incorporated nutrition lessons into the curriculum.
"I like to think I have touched a lot of kids as a teacher and in sports," Ingold said. "I have talked to some of the kids when they get older, are in college and come back and they will remember playing ghost in the graveyard. I feel like that I have worked hard for the next P.E. teacher, and they will have some nice equipment and lessons to go from."
"I'm sure when I walk out of here, I will miss it a lot," Ingold said of teaching. "I'm looking forward to new challenges. When you do something for so long you just don't just walk out and not miss the kids and the staff."
The first challenge on his list will be taking a 10-day fishing trip to Canada.
"That is my reward for 34 years of teaching," Ingold said. "I have put in my time."
He plans to spend more time with family in retirement, watch his sons, Parker and Drake, compete in cross country and track as well as spend more time traveling.
Ingold has served as a physical education teacher in the Monroe School District for 25 years. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience, including serving as a Monroe Middle School cross country coach for six years and middle school wrestling for six years. He was the Monroe High School girls cross country coach for 12 years. During that span, Monroe made six WIAA state meet appearances in Division 1 and captured seven conference titles. He also spent three years as the Monroe High School wrestling coach and coached middle school track and field for eight years. Ingold spent three years as the Mat Rat youth wrestling coach.
"One thing I will always remember is if you were having one of those rotten days," Ingold said. "All it took was one kid to come up to you and give you a hug and that made you forget all those rotten things."
Before becoming a teacher, the Monroe native was an avid runner who chased his dream of competing in the Olympics. He was part of Monroe's back-to-back state champion cross country teams in 1973 and 1974. He was a member of the Cheesemakers' state champion wrestling team in 1973.
Ingold ran track and cross country at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He was inducted into the UW-La Crosse Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a two-time Wisconsin Track and Field Congress Grand Prix Running Series champion. He garnered sponsorships from Nike and Brooks shoes that allowed him to take flights to races across the country.
"If it wasn't for those sponsorships with Nike and Brooks shoes I would not have been able to travel to Spokane, Washington, and Atlanta, Georgia," he said.
During the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1981, he missed qualifying for the Olympic trials by 12 seconds. He spent many years running 5K and 10K road races. His 20-mile mark of 1 hour, 40 minutes and 20 seconds had him ranked second on the U.S. all-time list at one point. His top time in the 5K was 14:15, and his best time in the 10K was 29:20.
He competed in 5K and 10K road races until he was 39. When he suffered a herniated disc in his back that put an end to most of his racing, Ingold said.
Ingold's first teaching job came in Monticello where he taught for six years from 1982 to 1987. He was instrumental as a boys and girls cross country coach and wrestling coach in developing cooperative teams for both programs with New Glarus in his first year as a coach in 1982. The track team has now evolved into a three school co-op with New Glarus, Monticello and Belleville. The cross country team still continues its co-op with New Glarus.
"With my background as an athlete, I thought I could be a good coach," Ingold said. "I couldn't see myself doing the teaching without the coaching."
Ingold said the co-op between Monticello and New Glarus for wrestling and cross country was one of the first at the time.
"That was kind of a new thing," Ingold said of the co-op. "It gave kids a chance who didn't have a chance to play sports."
When he went back to UW-La Crosse to get his master's degree in 1987, Ingold served as an assistant cross country and track coach.
Ingold has seen many changes in how physical education is taught in elementary schools since he started teaching more than three decades ago. The emphasis on playing competitive sports in P.E. classes has gone by the wayside.
"The kids really haven't changed a lot," he said. "There is more of a fitness base now. There is more put on the teacher now with testing and assessment. The PEP grant was a lot of work, but it is something that has improved physical education. It has helped our curriculum a lot."
The fitness testing includes a trunk lift, a pacer run, a sit-and-reach, push-ups, curl-ups and a Body Mass Index test. Through the PEP (Physical Education Program) grant and training from Focus Fitness, Ingold said P.E. teachers can have students complete an activity at different intensity levels from sitting to sprinting. Ingold said P.E. teachers in the district have incorporated nutrition lessons into the curriculum.
"I like to think I have touched a lot of kids as a teacher and in sports," Ingold said. "I have talked to some of the kids when they get older, are in college and come back and they will remember playing ghost in the graveyard. I feel like that I have worked hard for the next P.E. teacher, and they will have some nice equipment and lessons to go from."
