Being anything other than a physical education teacher just didn’t suit Sue Prieskorn.

&#8220I grew up doing athletics,” she said. &#8220It comes natural to me. I think it’s what I was meant to do.”

This year, that theory was proven.

Prieskorn, a physical education teacher at Barren County High School, was recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative educators in the 2007 ING Unsung Heroes awards program.

Prieskorn was one of 100 winners who received a $2,000 award to help fund her innovative idea and bring it to life in the classroom.

&#8220I had applied for the grant, and I forgot about it,” she said. &#8220I was so excited.”

She will now compete with other winners for one of the top three prizes – an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000.

&#8220It was very exciting,” she said. &#8220But I do it all for my kids.”

The ING Unsung Heroes awards program recognizes kindergarten through 12th-grade educators nationwide for innovative teaching methods and creative educational projects. Since 1996, ING has awarded $2.8 million to nearly 1,200 educators across the United States.

The 2007 ING Unsung Heroes winners were selected from a group of more than 1,400 applications.

A grant specialist in the district informed Prieskorn about the program.

&#8220Last year everything was real negative about teenagers – pregnancy, obesity – and I was like, gosh, I like where I work, I like teenagers,” Prieskorn said. &#8220I felt I could do something positive (by applying).”

Prieskorn will implement the &#8220Feeling Good, Looking Great” program at her school. The program encourages students to participate in lifetime fitness, improve their self-esteem and body image and deter obesity. Students will participate in exercises such as walking, biking, hiking, horseback riding, swimming and jumping rope. The final goals of the project are to improve students’ self-esteem and body image, increase their leisure time activity and improve body mass index readings that measure the amount of fat.

&#8220To me there is so much negativity toward teenagers,” she said. &#8220And I wanted to do something positive, something to build self-esteem.”

Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Prieskorn is a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she was a diver on the swim team.

&#8220That’s where I met my husband,” she said.

Prieskorn said he was offered the swim coach position at Bowling Green High School, moving them from Ohio to Bowling Green in 1989.

A graduate assistant for two years at Western Kentucky University, Prieskorn began to teach aerobics, while sending out her resume to school districts in surrounding counties.

Barren County had an opening in 1992 for a P.E. teacher, she said.

&#8220I teach dance, P.E. and aerobics,” she said. &#8220And this year they built me my own dance studio, and it’s a good facility.”

Prieskorn has 16 years of teaching under her belt, and is no stranger to the ins and outs of the school system – Barren County’s or Bowling Green’s. She said she has two children – a daughter in the sixth grade at Bowling Green Junior High and a son in kindergarten at Potter Gray.

Although her children attend Bowling Green schools, Prieskorn said she loves the students, and the atmosphere of Barren County Schools.

&#8220I’ve built up curriculum and equipment – I have it made here,” she said. &#8220If I moved up to a college setting, then maybe I would leave, but never to another public school system.

&#8220Teachers are role models for students. My theory on teaching is you have to stay positive. You can’t get down.”