Teacher Connor Dennehy says gym class is a route to joy

For Connor Dennehy, when it comes to physical fitness, it’s not about being a star athlete.

The physical and health education teacher at Cordello Avenue Elementary School in Central Islip said instilling a love of movement and a sense of confidence in students can lead to so much more in life.

“It’s about being able to grab a group of kids and get them moving, get them confident, get them educated and hope that they take these skills on into their future,” he said. “My goal is to get students active so they can achieve a lifelong physical fitness, and that leads to happiness and that joy we all look for.”

Dennehy at first sought to become a physical therapist, he said. But the influence of his mother and stepfather, both teachers on Long Island, “intrinsically motivated” him to become a teacher.

After studying physical education at SUNY Cortland, he joined Cordello in 2021.

“I love teaching kids that are innocent and willing and open to learn and move,” he said.

Dennehy coaches Central Islip’s high school boys’ junior varsity volleyball team and helps organize student participation in the Fit Club run by New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s Suffolk Zone. He’s also part of a team teaching Special Education Life Skills students with disabilities.

For students who aren’t inspired to move, Dennehy said the key is finding the motivating factor.

“It’s trying to unpack what’s going on in their mind,” he said.

That doesn’t always mean probing questions, he said, but using inflection and body language to try to reach students, even those who might feel they aren’t athletic.

“It’s finding what they’re good at,” Dennehy said. “You take one thing that they’re good at and you make them feel amazing for doing it.”

Cordello Principal Nathaniel Marner called Dennehy a “forward-thinking” educator.

“He’s constantly thinking up new, creative, fun ways to engage students,” Marner said. “Some students who are not used to playing athletics, they find gym class a struggle. So he tries to include them to make them feel like they can accomplish goals.”

Fourth grader Angeli Canas Lopez has been a student of Dennehy’s since she was in kindergarten. When asked what she thinks of Dennehy, she offered the highest of compliments a child can give an adult: “He’s cool.”

Angeli said she has enjoyed Dennehy’s activities, ranging from pushups and jumping jacks to basketball, soccer and volleyball. Not to mention some games like tag thrown in for good measure.

“He has a great personality,” she said of her teacher, adding that he’s also funny and kind.

Dennehy said the most rewarding part of his job is when he stands at the edge of the gym and sees it buzzing with every student moving and smiling.

“You look around and it’s contagious,” he said.

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By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.