Sarah Jones was unsure which career she should pursue, ultimately deciding to become a teacher because she has such a difficult time saying goodbye.

A strong attachment to her students is one reason Jones was recently named the Society of Health and Physical Educators of Pennsylvania (SHAPE PA) 2025 Elementary Teacher of the Year for Lancaster, Lebanon, and Berks counties.

"This award recognizes outstanding educators who demonstrate excellence in health and physical education and inspire their students through innovative and impactful teaching practices," SHAPE PA said. Jones will be formally honored at the upcoming SHAPE PA Lancaster, Lebanon, and Berks counties' annual end-of-year celebration in May.

"Sarah is a phenomenal physical education teacher," said Kim Rauscher, principal at East Petersburg Elementary School, where Jones teaches physical education (P.E.). "She is all about her students and all about active learning and participation in her classroom. She's creative. She's a problem-solver, and she's an absolute team player."

Jones was notified of the honor via email in March. "I was surprised and honored," she said. "My first reaction was I'm just so thankful for my health and P.E. teachers here at Hempfield and the team here at East Petersburg Elementary School who have supported me and have helped me learn and grow."

Reticent to talk about herself, when pressed Jones said, "I am very intentional about planning activities that allow for all students to be able to participate at their own level and have fun."

She credited her colleagues and Hempfield School District. "Our P.E. team (at East Pete) has been together for quite a while," Jones said. "At our recent inservice, we had a meeting where we were able to share our ideas and activities we're using that align with the standards. Being able to work well with a great group of individuals is huge."

She is thankful to have the room to implement her philosophy. "I think our elementary gymnasium spaces are wonderful facilities," Jones said. "We have such a large area to allow the students to move. That's been beneficial in allowing all the students to participate in their different levels. I am thankful we are budgeted in funding each year to be able to buy new equipment and either replace things that have been broken or are damaged by use over time or buy new, unique equipment."

Jones was a student at Lampeter-Strasburg High School when she began ruminating about her career goals. She helped in an elementary special education classroom as part of a work-study program and assisted with physical therapy at Schreiber Center for Pediatric Development.

"I was torn between education and physical therapy," Jones said. "I realized with teaching I get to work with those students and families for a longer period of time."

"I often tell my students here, 'You know, if you're here from kindergarten through sixth grade, that's seven years of us together spending time here in the gym. That might be the longest time you have with one teacher in your whole educational career,'" Jones said. "It gets me emotional, because it's very fun to watch them grow, and it's hard to watch them leave. Knowing that I get to be a part of watching them grow up is one of the reasons I stuck with phys. ed."

Jones began teaching in 2009 before coming to the Hempfield School District in 2012. She worked at Landisville Primary Center for a year and has been at East Pete ever since.

A basketball and softball player in her youth, Jones is an avid runner who enjoys playing soccer and baseball with her own kids. "I try to find ways to encourage students to find what they like from (class) and go do it somewhere else without me, after school, at home, over the summers," she said. "I'm an athlete myself, and I enjoy participating in sports and physical activities. I really make an intentional effort to bring that joy to the students here."