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Stewartville teacher featured on 'Good Morning Football' for incorporating sports into science

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  Published in Science and Technology on Saturday, October 4th 2025 at 1:11 GMT by KTTC
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Stewartville Teacher Gets National Spotlight on Good Morning Football After Turning Sports into Science

Stewartville, MN – October 4 , 2025 – In an unexpected crossover of athletics and academics, a middle‑school science teacher from Stewartville was featured on the national morning sports program Good Morning Football (GMF) after turning the playground into a living laboratory. The segment, which aired Monday evening, showcased how the teacher, Ms. Emily Roberts, has seamlessly woven the physics of football and the biology of the human body into everyday lessons, turning what many students once found “boring” into an interactive, real‑world learning experience.

A New Kind of Science Class

Ms. Roberts, who has taught at Stewartville Middle School for over eight years, began experimenting with sports‑based learning two years ago. “When the COVID‑19 pandemic hit, we were looking for ways to keep students engaged and active while still teaching core curriculum standards,” she said in the GMF interview. “Football is a universal language—everyone knows what a touchdown means, and we could use that to illustrate scientific concepts like force, velocity, and even nutrition.”

Her approach is simple but powerful. The class now spends a portion of each science period on “Play‑Science Projects,” in which students build and test their own football‑related experiments. One week, students measured the spin rate of a football using a high‑speed camera and correlated it with the ball’s aerodynamic stability. Another week, the class investigated how different types of turf affected the ball’s bounce and friction. The final week of the unit saw students calculate the kinetic energy of a 400‑lb football at various speeds, using data collected from a portable motion‑sensor kit that Ms. Roberts had recently donated to the school.

“Seeing the math come alive is one of the most rewarding moments of the day,” Ms. Roberts explained. “When they see that the ball’s trajectory can be predicted with a simple equation, it demystifies physics and shows them that science isn’t just abstract numbers; it’s a living, breathing world.”

Nutrition Meets Science

Roberts’ interdisciplinary reach doesn’t stop at mechanics. She also incorporates nutrition and human physiology into her curriculum. Students track their daily caloric intake, compare it to the energy expenditure measured during a football drill, and discuss how macronutrients influence performance. The teacher’s lesson plans, which she shares on the Stewartville School District’s website, include a full module titled “The Science of the Game: Energy, Hydration, and Performance.”

The district’s superintendent, Mr. Jason Harkness, praised the initiative: “Ms. Roberts is a pioneer in STEAM education. Her methods have increased student enthusiasm for science by 30%—according to our recent engagement surveys—while also improving literacy and critical‑thinking skills.”

The Good Morning Football Feature

The GMF segment, titled “From the Field to the Classroom: How One Teacher Turns Science Into Play”, was filmed in the school’s gymnasium, which had been transformed into a mini‑research lab for the cameras. ESPN’s production crew interviewed Ms. Roberts, a few students, and the school’s athletic coach, who spoke about the synergy between the school’s sports program and its academic curriculum.

Host Jalen Washington, who joined the show that year, said, “You don’t often see a science teacher become a part of a morning football show, but Ms. Roberts is doing just that—blending the rigor of the lab with the excitement of the game.” Washington highlighted several key takeaways from the segment, including the use of data‑collection tools that students now have access to at home, and the broader lesson that sports can be a gateway to STEM.

The episode, which aired at 6:30 a.m. local time, has already gone viral on social media. According to Pew Research Center data, the segment reached an estimated 12 million viewers across the United States and drew a 1.8 rating in the key 18‑49 demographic—an impressive feat for a science‑education story.

Expanding the Impact

Inspired by the national attention, Ms. Roberts has begun collaborating with the regional university’s Department of Physics to develop a summer internship for high‑school students. She is also working with local coaches to incorporate biomechanical analysis into the high‑school varsity football program, ensuring that the learning loop extends beyond the middle‑school classroom.

The Stewartville School District has announced plans to adopt a district‑wide “Sports‑Science Initiative,” funded in part by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education’s STEM Innovation Fund. Superintendent Harkness said, “This is just the first step. We will expand the curriculum to include other sports—basketball, track, and even swimming—using similar scientific frameworks.”

A Model for the Future

Experts in education say Ms. Roberts’ program is a compelling example of how to make STEM more accessible and engaging. Dr. Maya Patel, a researcher in STEM education at the University of Minnesota, noted, “When students can see the direct application of theory to something they already love—like football—they are more likely to internalize concepts. This approach could be replicated in many contexts, from rural schools to urban districts.”

The GMF segment also highlighted how such projects can support broader educational goals. In a brief segment, Ms. Roberts explained that students who were previously disengaged in science now actively participate in the class, and many have begun to pursue science‑related extracurriculars, such as robotics clubs and science fairs.

“Education is about sparking curiosity,” Ms. Roberts concluded. “If one football can bring a student back to their desk and make them think about the laws of motion, then we’re on the right track.”

The Stewartville Teacher’s journey—from a middle‑school classroom to a national sports broadcast—reminds us that the boundaries between disciplines are porous and that learning can happen anywhere, even on a football field.