Brenda Champagne Levert – Health and Physical Education, 1986

Brenda Champagne Levert

1986 – Health & Physical Education

                Hi.  My name is Brenda Levert (formerly Brenda Champagne). I graduated from USL in 1986.  My major was Health and Physical Education.  I’m excited to share a few memories of my years at USL.  While at USL I joined the Health and Physical Education Major’s Club.  I remember going to meetings with other H&PE majors and instructors.  We had lots of fun.  The best part of attending the D meetings was seeing the instructors at social gatherings.  They were real friendly and fun to be around.  But when we got back to campus, it was always back to work.  It was nice to know the instructors were “real” people too.  I knew then that after I became a teacher my life would still be exciting.

                Speaking of work, I’ll never forget how much WORK Dr. Gatch assigned!   It seemed as soon as I thought I understood what I was doing, he switched gears and lost me again.  I constantly strived to keep up.  Dr. Gatch was so interesting I could have listened to him lecture for hours.  He never bored me.  I was always impressed with his wealth of knowledge.  I wished I were a sponge so I could soak it up.  Dr. Gatch, thank you for the fond memories and for making learning interesting.

                I have fond memories of all my teachers.  I remember when Dr George told me I would have to learn all the muscles and bones of the body, and explain how each muscle works.  My first thought was that it would be impossible, but then I remembered the skills I had to master in gymnastics, and I realized he believed nothing was impossible.  I got out my textbook and began to study.  I knew he would not accept any excuses.

                To this day I know I could not have had a more caring, helpful and inspirational teacher than Dr. Dugas.  Dr. Dugas knew how to motivate me.  He was a wonderful instructor who cared very much about his students.   When I was student teaching, he always knew how to inspire me.  He made me believe in myself and gave me courage to pursue my teaching career.  I remember each time I went to Dr. Dugas and complained about not needing a specific course, he would tell me “you never know what you will do once you start working.”  Boy was he right!  I have taught at six different schools in 12 years.  I have taught kindergarten to 5th grade physical education,  4th grade, high school math, and my present job, middle school math.  Dr Dugas you were right.  Thank you for keeping me focused and for the many recommendations.    He still serves as a reference for me when requested by my employers.

Who out there remembers Dr. Testerman’s Dance classes?  I can still picture myself square dancing with my classmates.  I still see everyone’s happy faces.  However, I can’t remember if we were smiling because we were having fun or simply laughing at each other.  We had some great times together in all our PE classes. We always looked out for each other.

After graduation from USL I moved to Houston, Texas.  I married Lawrence Levert, a USL graduate as well. We have two wonderful sons and now live in Madison, Alabama.  I am currently teaching at The Academy for Academics and Arts Magnet School.  I am the math department chair.  So, Charmaine and Patricia if you are reading this I guess the hours we spent in ALL those math courses have paid off.

To all my former classmates, I hope you are doing well and I would love to hear from you.