Creative Teaching Strategies Grew Roots at LU

A 2021 graduate of Longwood’s Master of Science Degree in Education, with a concentration in Educational Leadership, Kevin Napier has quickly made an impression locally in Henrico County Public Schools and nationally as Unruly Splats’ Unruliest PE Teacher — in both 2021 and 2022. 

Since he started teaching in 2019, Napier has made it his mission to engage elementary students. His award-winning work with the unique, cross-curricular tool Unruly Splats mixes coding with play. Using an iPad, students program floor tiles to light up or make sounds as they run obstacle courses and relay races. Napier’s work to make technology fun has attracted so much attention that earlier this year, he was featured on a local Richmond news station. 

Napier currently serves as an Innovative Learning Coach for two Henrico County elementary schools – Crestview and Sandston – acting as a mentor for other teachers as they brainstorm creative teaching strategies. 

“I am tasked with spicing up education for everyone in the building,” Napier said. “I have the opportunity to teach innovative STEAM lessons to students and help teachers brainstorm new ways to present their curriculum.”

Much of his approach is rooted in lessons he learned in Longwood’s Education, M.S., Educational Leadership program, especially the importance of fusing theory with real-world relevance.

“I use information from Dr. [Thomas] Taylor’s finance course to implement data-driven decision making. Due to Dr. [Lisa] Chen’s law course, I know I am always making sound legal decisions when communicating with the school community,” he said.

In addition, Longwood’s social justice focus encouraged Napier to work toward lasting change in the field of education. He cites Dr. Sarah Tanner-Anderson, in particular, as a professor crucial to his development as a leader, calling her “one of the best educators in the field.”

 “My goal every time I walk into one of my schools is to provide an excellent and equitable learning experience for all of my students,” he said. 

Napier has certainly done just that. In addition to his work with Unruly Splats, he’s designed lessons that combine Plickers with Magnet Tiles for easy-to-use assessment tools, built a nine-hole putt-putt course in his gym, and even constructed his own bowling alley using PVC pipes and Christmas lights.

Napier credits Longwood’s hybrid model for allowing him to build his teaching career while simultaneously advancing his education. Over the course of the two-year program, he learned and grew alongside a cohort of fellow educational leaders. In fact, he still works with one of his Longwood classmates, Emily McMillen, who serves as associate principal at Sandston Elementary.

As he grows his career, Napier is looking to the future. Currently working on a solution to combat the critical teacher shortages in Virginia, he plans to apply to educational leadership doctoral programs in the near future, using the research he has started for his dissertation and taking Longwood’s lessons about innovation, real-world relevance and equitable education with him.