Lori Nolte

Background

About Lori Nolte

I was born in Las Vegas NV, attended the University at Cal Berkeley on an athletic scholarship, and went on to coach Track and Field at the University of New Mexico where I also earned a master's degree in Sports administration. From there I worked in fitness and managed a gym until I got tired of having to charge people to share my knowledge and passion about biomechanics, health, and fitness plans. I decided to get into K-12 education where I can fire up a bunch of future health/fitness/recreationists/competitors. Over the last 15 years of coaching and teaching, I have observed PE students and athletes bonding over working toward a common goal. The sense of ownership, trust, communication, and perseverance grow as a group tries, fails, communicates, and regroups to try again provides the context for students to discover their identity, build character, and have a true sense of belonging as they fulfill an important role in the journey to their team's goal. The phenomenon of belonging can be duplicated. The same feelings a student-athlete experiences can be fostered in many school situations that can improve student sense of belonging for the entire student body. This has become my passion within education. Advisory programs are used to support the whole child. They provide a safe space and support open dialogue that helps students navigate their passions into school projects that have meaning to themselves and their surrounding community. When students have agency over what they bring into their school day they are able to bring authenticity to school projects that truly represent who they are. Programs such as Changemakers that are tied to the United Nations' sustainability goals provide a framework for how to make meaningful changes and support student growth toward global citizenship. Observing the student benefits from experiencing a sense of belonging has piqued my interest to pursue my Ed.D. from Wilkes University specifically on student sense of belonging and the programs, attitudes, and environment that foster, or hinder, a sense of belonging for international middle school students.