Bay Area P.E. teacher being honored for his kindness and 30 years of helping kids
'Coach Don' of Berkeley wins kindness award
Coach Don, a P.E. teacher in Berkeley, is being honored for his decades of work in the community.
BERKELEY, Calif. - A beloved Berkeley physical education teacher is set to be honored this week for his more than 30 years of dedication to the community’s kids.
Donald Arreola-Burl, affectionately known as "Coach Don," is a longtime P.E. teacher at Washington Elementary School located in the heart of Berkeley, and he's worked at other schools in the city including Berkeley's John Muir, Longfellow, Cragmont, Oxford, and Franklin Elementary.
He was recently named the winner of a monthly grassroots initiative that was created in 2022 by a UC Berkeley Haas School of Business professor, Alan Ross.
Donald Arreola-Burl, a P.E. teacher at Berkeley's Washington Elementary School, is being honored. (Chris Kindness Award / Alan Ross )
The backstory:
Ross’s idea was a simple one — to promote kindness by putting a spotlight on the kind acts carried out by community members. To that end, the professor created what he called the Chris Kindness Award, which recognizes someone every month for their kindness and awards that person a $1,000 prize.
Ross funds the project himself. He named his initiative after a preschool teacher, Chris Walton, who died from cancer. Walton taught Ross’s children at the JCC East Bay preschool in Berkeley and was remembered by the professor as the greatest teacher he had ever known, someone "who believed in the power of kindness and practiced it every day."
How it works:
Members of the community nominate a candidate, anyone who has engaged in acts of kindness, big or small. The only criterion is that nominees must live, work, or go to school in Berkeley.
Finalists are named, and the community votes on the winner.
What we know:
This month’s contest resulted in the most-ever number of votes placed for one person in the history of the kindness program, according to Ross, who said hundreds of votes poured in for Coach Don.
The P.E. teacher was a finalist alongside Mai Nguyen, an entrepreneur who created a medical device for Alzheimer’s prevention, and Michael O’Herron, who helped establish a nonprofit that seeks to support young adult climate advocates.
Schoolwide celebration
With Coach Don's win, Washington Elementary’s principal has decided to celebrate this recognition with the entire school and planned a special school assembly on Friday as part of the Chris Kindness Award ceremony.
"Based on the comments written about Coach Don he is clearly a Berkeley institution," Ross said, noting that Arreola-Burl has more than 40 years of experience, not just as a P.E. teacher but also coaching and operating recreation programs.
In 2008, along with his wife, Michele, he co-founded the community-based non-profit Recreation and Team Sports (RATS).
It's a family affair, with his son Jonah, who is also a teacher, and his daughter, Anjuli, part of the staff at RATS.
The program describes itself as "welcoming and inclusive" as it works with children of mixed ages, of all socioeconomic backgrounds and all levels of athletic ability.
"RATS seeks to teach cooperation, self-direction, sportsmanship and inclusion in a fun, energetic and positive atmosphere. Kids learn to give and take, win and lose, and have fun," the non-profit said.
What they're saying:
"Coach Don is a genius for meeting kids where they are and engaging them. Even clumsy children love RATS, because Don and Jonah find a mix of activities that works for everyone -- accentuating different strengths and styles of play," the person who nominated Arreola-Burl shared.
The program also makes sure that all children can take part.
"No one is ever turned away due to lack of funds," RATS said.
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Some who weighed in and voted for this month's kindness award shared about the coach's impact on their lives even years later, long after they left grade school.
An elementary school teacher in San Diego and former student of Coach Don’s from about 20 years ago wrote about being a shy kid who didn't really enjoy competitive games.
"But I loved going to PE every week because he was such an energetic and joyful teacher and he always came up with such fun games to play. I still have such vivid positive memories from PE class at Washington! Coach Don is definitely one of the teachers who helped shape my childhood and inspired me to become an educator, and he is undoubtedly deserving of this recognition," the person wrote.
Another praised the coach and his son for the work they do through RATS.
"When I think about RATS camp and the magic Coach Don and his family have created I get a little tear of happiness. The camp is radical inclusion in action where kids are empowered to play and are gently shepherded throughout the day. Every kids feels special," the voter wrote.
The person who nominated Coach Don said that through his work, the P.E. teacher served as a "kindness perpetual motion machine" and said he perfectly represented the inspiration for Ross's kindness program.
"RATS is truly a Berkeley institution, and Coach Don and the Arreola-Burl family embody everything Chris Walton stood for," the nominator said. "I can't think of a more deserving nominee for the Chris Kindness Award."