Norman Katz

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

Royal Vale School gym teacher Norman Katz was awarded the King Charles III Medal for his implementation of the Jump Rope for Heart event benefitting the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The foundation let him know last November that they wanted to nominate him. He learned soon after that he was going to be one of the recipients.

Katz has been a gym teacher for upwards of 25 years, with a short break, for a time, as a tennis coach at a private club. Even as a private tennis coach he taught after school tennis programs. “I never really wanted to let go of schooling.” He taught at Nesbitt School in the east end, at Carlyle Elementary in TMR, and at Merton School in Cote St. Luc. He brought the Jump Rope for Heart program to Royal Vale when he started there 22 years ago.

Katz says he’s very humbled by the medal. “It’s a beautiful way of acknowledging all the great things we do with the Heart and Stroke Foundation.”

He was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and studied education at Dalhousie University. He always knew he was going to be a gym teacher because he has always led an active, healthy life himself. But whatever discipline one teaches, he says, is only one part of a kid’s education. “You’re a teacher first,” he says. He might talk with the kids in gym about politeness, or teach them about sharing and giving to others, and they might wonder what that has to do with physical education. You teach the whole child, he says, whether it’s math, science, or physical education. “Health and being active is my thing, but we also need to understand all the other things.”

Katz is very proud of the other activities he leads at Royal Vale to promote healthy, active living, like Bike for Fun Day, Swim to Survive, skating, tennis, and other activities. But he singles out activities like Jump Rope for Heart, and their Terry Fox Day activities as promoting a healthy lifestyle while learning that it’s important to help others, “teaching life through phys. ed.”

“I’m very proud to be honoured with this,” Katz says. “I’m quite humbled, very proud, proud for myself, proud for the school, proud of my family.

“When you work hard,” he adds, “sometimes good things happen.” n