LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Kristen Coutoulakis was nominated by an anonymous colleague.

Adults who truly change children’s lives are those who take the time to get involved and get to know children on a personal level. Ms. Coutoulakis, also known as "Coutie," is that teacher. 

If you arrived at East Providence High School on any morning, as students were beginning to trickle in, you would meet Coutie. Her smile lights up the hallways, and students gravitate to her as she makes her way through. She calls each student by name and asks how their night was, if they are caught up on homework, and how their specific hobbies are going. She knows their favorite sports teams and who played who the night before, and she has no difficulty gloating when her favorite team wins a game, particularly if it’s the Yankees beating the Red Sox. Coutie radiates positive spirit and involvement with staff and students from the start of the day, through dismissal, and at after school events.  Most importantly, she treats each student with respect and has a genuine interest in their lives. 

Coutie is a leader in the school community. She is the health and physical education (PE) department head, leading a staff of six PE teachers. In this role, she mentors her teachers and encourages them to participate not only in the school community, but on the state and national levels. She is a former East Providence Education Association secretary, participating as part of her staff's bargaining unit to promote the best teaching and learning environments.

Last year, Coutie worked with the school resource officer to organize students to raise funds through the Special Olympics polar plunge. She was able to recruit enough of the staff and student body to be among the top participating schools in Rhode Island. When the plunge was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, Coutie went ahead and made sure to plunge anyway to fulfill her commitment to the people who had donated in her name.

Coutie is a force in promoting full participation for students with and without special needs through Unified sports programs and Unified PE classes. In addition to coaching Unified Volleyball and Basketball (a Special Olympics model for sports participation), Coutie is working to achieve a Unified Champions School Designation through Special Olympics. Aside from these professional responsibilities, Coutie is typically the one to remember staff birthdays and special days. She makes sure to celebrate her colleagues with cards, cake, and posters when appropriate.

Coutie participates in developing her professional capabilities at the local, state, and national levels. She is currently a RIAPHERD (Rhode Island Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance) Executive Board member and participates with Shape America. In addition, she has developed in-services and continuing education sessions for state and national conferences. 

Where Coutie truly shines, however, is in her commitment to promoting a safe, healthy, nurturing environment for her students. When students are not able to join the Unified team, she makes sure they have the team shirt to wear on game day so that they feel like they are a part of it. When COVID-19 shutdowns occurred, and the teaching model changed completely, Coutie really stepped up in her role. She was a champion for promoting her discipline and researching different ways to get kids involved while at home. She worked with PE department heads from around the state to develop remote learning activities and assignments to get kids up and away from their screens to participate in movement. Coutie believes in the social-emotional aspects of PE that are often overlooked when people look at PE as a “gym” class.

Instead of taking the easy road during this time, Coutie began to take classes and learn everything she could about online platforms for physical education. Her assignments for her students focused on having them express themselves in their own ways, from video assignments to athletic challenges. When students were not responding online, she continued to reach out and learn about new programs and pathways to teach interactively while online in remote learning. Coutie has been an active, avid student of online learning to prepare for this school year, from compiling non-contact and non-equipment based activities, to setting up remote classrooms with current research-based content. She has been able to advocate for her staff for continuing education over the summer to ensure each teacher would be ready for this new hybrid model of learning. 

"Kristen changes lives every day by her investment in the staff and students at EPHS," said her nominator.