Sifting for Gold in a Sewer

Are you tired of navigating endless feeds filled with irrelevant content? Are you feeling frustrated by platforms that prioritize trends over meaningful connections? In a recent conversation with Amanda Amtmanis, she described her experience on X as “sifting for gold in the sewer.” Her quote deeply resonates with us. We have felt this way for quite some time with our experience on X as our primary PD platform. 

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter and rebranded it X, he has slowly eroded the platform we used to love. The content moderation is weaker, the algorithms have shifted, and the platform experiences frequent service interruptions. X is a gold mine of GREAT content shared by HPE Teachers, but the gold mine is now in the sewer. We’ve developed lifelong friendships and found evergreen resources on X, but we’re not convinced that traditional social media is the space for sustaining a virtual professional learning community. So, get your mucking boots and headlamps on, or peak your head out of the sewer and see what’s going on down the street. 

A Platform of Our Own

Growing numbers of Health and PE teachers are seeking a dedicated space to share ideas, resources, and support. We’re excited to introduce The Health and Physical Education Collective, a new social network and professional development platform built exclusively for HPE professionals, by HPE professionals. Our platform is designed to address the specific needs, challenges, and opportunities facing our profession, and we offer a refreshing alternative to the noise of mainstream social media.

The HPE Collective, founded and operated by Jordan Manley and Jeff Bartlett, is a dynamic platform built to serve health and physical educators. Their friendship and partnership have grown through several years of SHAPE America conferences and the idea for The HPE Collective has grown – from a simple online exchange of ideas to the world’s leading professional growth platform for HPE teachers. Jordan and Jeff have been working on this project since March 2022 at SHAPE New Orleans, and they soft-launched in July 2024. 

Revolutionizing Professional Development

Jordan and Jeff are innovating the online professional learning space with freemium content, social networking, and hybrid conference experiences. Unlike Elon Musk, they are health and physical educators in the classroom – just like you. On the platform, you will enjoy free access to The HPE Social, their Premium Social Network. This space, along with a few others, will always be free. This is a place where organic conversation, learning, and resource sharing thrive. Have you ever thought about what X would be without all of the noise? That’s what the HPE Social is.

We also have plans to provide paid, a la carte content, and membership plans for you to access exclusive content curated by an HPE Pro. Yeah, the content on X is mostly free. We  are charging for exclusive content because they have content creators developing these learning experiences and they deserve to be paid! Your dollars will support the maintenance and upkeep of the website, and HPE content creators that are side hustling by make your job easier and better. Are you an HPE Content Creator? Join the network and reach out to us. We might contact you next!

We can’t announce specifics yet, but The HPE Collective will soon be the virtual home to many of your favorite conference events! We are collaborating with in-person conferences to support virtual offerings so that they can become a hybrid conference that attracts attendees from across the world. We will also host virtual-only summits in collaboration with some of your favorite brands and non-profit organizations in the field. The HPE Collective is revolutionizing online Professional Development. Join us today. We are just getting started. 

Sneak Peek

We want to say thank you to Andy Milne, our great friend, for using his platform to highlight our community. You can join us for free at the link provided, but we wanted to give you a taste of the premium content that went live on August 12th in our Back to School Jumpstart. Here is a sneak peek of a webinar recorded by Ian Lacasse from Wisconsin and a sneak peek of a webinar recorded by Emily Zien from Oregon.

At The HPE Collective, we are committed to changing the game in Health and Physical Education. Join the growing number of educators ready to cultivate engagement, foster growth, and transform education together.

Join the HPE Collective.