Vancouverite Melanie Galloway was named the fitness educator of the year by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association, a non-profit committed to promoting professional fitness standards.
Awarded for her innovative teaching techniques and ability to motivate and connect with the people who take her classes, Galloway specializes in training seniors and people with special fitness challenges.
The award recognized Galloway's passion and commitment to teaching and encouraging people to meet their fitness goals.
She also trains other fitness trainers. As an instructor, she supplements these leadership lessons with such interactive activities as science experiments, craft demos or games to ensure participants grasp concepts. Students receive annotated addendums to their course textbooks when new research is presented and when standards change.
Galloway, a fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Centre since 1994, has also developed her own manuals, CDs and online courses, which provide a tangible component to classroom instruction and demonstrations. "Melanie goes the extra mile with her instructions," said Suzanne Allard Strutt, the CEO of B.C. Recreation and Parks Association, the province's only member of the National Fitness Leadership Alliance.
"[She] demonstrates exceptional leadership within the fitness education community with her innovative and creative teaching techniques. She helps fitness leaders better empathize with their clients, and her engaging techniques help foster better retention of her lessons. Her dedication to excellence enables her students meet the high professional standards required to become a BCRPA registered fitness leader."
