Lee Allsbrook inspired decades of children who attended Campus School through physical fitness and life lessons as he offered his unique perspective on how to get kids to be active. Kids were less likely to be seen playing kickball under his watch, and more likely to be popping a wheelie on a skateboard, riding a unicycle or square-dancing.
“It is more about play,” explained Allsbrook. “If you can find your play, you can find your activity. I’ve never understood the idea of going to work out after work. You’ve been working all day. You need to find your play.”
Allsbrook fell in love teaching kids about physical fitness after receiving his undergraduate degree from East Tennessee State University, and his Master’s degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was then given the opportunity to come to Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Once at MTSU, he worked with Glen Reader, who gave him the chance to explore new ideas about teaching child physical activity.
In a September 1978 issue of MTSU’s Sidelines newspaper, A. H. Solomon, then chair of Department of Health and Human Performance within the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences where Allsbrook taught, called him “the finest elementary physical education specialist in the nation.”
Several United States Presidents agreed. He served under four of them – Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Bush – as a member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Movement (CPFSM). Now called the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, it is a federal advisory committee that aims to promote healthy eating and physical activity for all people, regardless of background or ability.
Allsbrook remembers the conversations he and the committee had with several of the Presidents about physical fitness. Jimmy Carter talked to him about training for a 10K run, Ronald Reagan spoke about his strength training after the assassination attempt on his life, George Bush played horseshoes and George W. Bush liked off road biking.
During his time serving the CPFSM, Allsbrook traveled around the country conducting clinics on his philosophy on getting kids engaged in physical fitness. He worked with the Boy Scouts of America on updating their physical education and health materials. And under his leadership, Campus School became a demonstration center for the State of Tennessee for future physical education teachers where he shared his ideas.
“Most games are watered down adult games,” noted Allsbrook. “I had the children I worked with a Campus School create their own games.”
He valued anything the kids suggested. While most play is competitive with sides being chosen and kids judging each other based on skill-level, many of the games the kids he created where focused on cooperative play. If sides were chosen, there was a buddy system that equalized skill levels, leaders were chosen for their kindness and they led from the back of the line, not the front.
“The trick,” said Allsbrook, “is giving kids the chance to choose what activity they want to participate in. Some kids are naturally physically active, and others are not. But given multiple choices, every child can learn to succeed at some physical activity and feel a sense of pride in it.”
The kids worked on specific skills until they mastered it and then went on to another. Allsbrook may have had 45 or more activities the kids could work on during the year. Often, he would have siblings who had already taught their younger brothers or sisters some of the skills they learned because they were so fun.
“I have been so blessed by what the children have showed me over the years,” said Allsbrook. “I have learned that there is often more creativity at the back of the traditional line than the front. That is where I like to be.”
His love of activity led Allsbrook to run in 80 marathons and complete five Iron Man Triathlons. He loved to run so much, that he decided to run 50 miles on his 50th birthday. He started at seven in the evening on the MTSU track and finished 12 hours later. Though upon completion, his wife, Nancy Boone Allsbrook, hilariously reminded him that he was only 49. The pair still laugh over that experience.
Born in Scotland Neck, North Carolina, near Greenville, Allsbrook was an active child. He noted that he never knew there were cartoons on television on Saturday mornings, as he was always outside moving and going. His first sand pile was the landing pit from a long jump, and he was always climbing on things. He was also around people who were physically active.
“My father set up a circus in our barn and all the kids in the neighborhood would come around and he’d teach them how to do different tricks,” Allsbrook stated.
In John J. Bingham’s online blog “The Penguin Chronicles, Allsbrook shared, “We didn’t have kids with ADD, or ADHD when I was growing up. We would chase each other around at recess with such intensity that we looked forward to sitting still and recovering in class. ALL of us, teachers and students, came back from recess with better attitudes. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was Sputnik or the moon race, but at some point, the people who know best decided that recess was a waste of time. They were wrong then. They’re wrong now.”
Just having turned 85, Allsbrook remains active, logging four miles a day on his elliptical, weight training and enjoying the ability to “play” near their Monteagle home. For seven years after he retired, he and his wife would drive twice a week to Chattanooga to do yoga.
While Allsbrook says that we gain our interest in physical activity from our parents, anyone can change learned attitudes and become more active. It is all about finding that sense of play. It can be walking a dog for one person, swimming for another or dancing for someone else. Developing an active lifestyle may be stop and go, but that is okay. Every day is a new chance to do something fun that is physical.