Gilford's Amy Tripp earns NH High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year honor

GILFORD — After 16 years of teaching, Physical Education and Wellness Teacher Amy Tripp of Gilford High School is the recipient of the 2024 High School Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the New Hampshire Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In honor of her recognition, Principal Anthony Sperazzo called a faculty meeting Friday afternoon, gathering the school’s teachers in the library to surprise Tripp with the news.

Tripp’s "relentless passion for providing lifetime fitness activities has transcended into opportunities that many physical education teachers dream of offering. This has become the norm for other years at Gilford High School, educators from across the state have reached out to communicate with Amy in hopes of learning how ‘she does it,’” Sperazzo said. “She is forward thinking by ensuring multiple pathways for all of our learners, no matter what their interests are.”

Tripp, despite receiving news of her honor two hours before the meeting, was surprised by the celebration. After Sperazzo spoke, he handed Tripp a bouquet of flowers and invited her to say a few words.

“I'm very honored. I wrote back to the person that let me know, and I said that it moved me to tears,” Tripp said. “But you know, having all of you here and your kind words, it just means so much to me. So, thank you so much.”

Tripp has coached volleyball for Gilford since 1994, starting with junior varsity, then in 2018 coaching varsity. In her first three years, from 2018 to 2020, the team under Tripp won three straight state titles. One athlete on the team, senior Sadie Lydick, 17, spoke about Tripp as a coach.

“She just really wants us to be the best athletes we can,” she said. “We have hard practices; we watch film to see what we can fix, watch film on other teams before we play them. Kust those things to make sure we're doing the best we can.”

Tripp’s husband, Kevin, said he wasn’t surprised to hear his wife was recognized. He said Tripp has helped teach their own daughter, who is on the A team for volleyball at the middle school.

“She's the only seventh grader on the A team for middle school, and they had a game last night,” he said. “Of course, Amy was at her game, and I went to the game. She played all three games. She was the only kid that played all three games.”

Tripp didn’t start out as a teacher. Before teaching, she worked at the former Laconia Athletic and Swim Club, where she was a personal trainer and message therapist. She said during that time, she still felt like a teacher, and thought there was a natural progression from this job, to her teaching career.

“I think somewhere in me, there was always a teacher, because I taught fitness classes at the club, and I coached. And you know, phys ed is similar, but I think just the profound desire to help young people be the best they can be.

"I believe in movement and fitness for life, and that's what I hope, that I can give them something, even if it's some yoga or cardio, to stay fit and healthy for the rest of their life.”