If you’re in Remington Putter’s class, you might: 

Be offered $20 to minimize your screen time, throw crumpled paper balls across the room, or play a game of “Simon Says,” referred to as “Mr. Putter Says.”

“We have a lot of fun in here — not your traditional classroom,” Putter said as students threw snowballed paper across the room. 

Putter is an adjunct instructor at Wichita State University. He teaches Health, Movement and Physical Activity, which shows students how to incorporate well-being into their future kindergarten to sixth-grade classes. 

But he’s got his hands full with plenty else: He’s working toward a doctoral degree in educational leadership at WSU, teaching full-time with El Dorado School District and coaching WSU’s Disc Golf Club.

“It’s been a lot,” Putter said. “I’m definitely a task-oriented person, so I like to do well at what I do. And so I try to limit my priorities.”

It’s Putter’s first year coaching the club — as well as the club’s first time having a coach. Before, the club’s president and vice president filled that role to some degree.

“I’ve known about the club for the last probably two years, and so I just contacted the president (at the time) . . . and I said, ‘Hey, you know, do you guys have an organized practice or anything that I can come to?’” Putter said. “And he said, ‘No, we don’t really have a coach.’”

So Putter went to try out. After making the team, he offered to coach them.

“I do have quite a bit of classes and experience with coaching, and so that’s kind of been my passion is athletics,” Putter said. “… Coaching is a way that I can still stay in this sport and influence people.”

While he isn’t telling his players, “Mr. Putter says clap your hands,” Putter says his coaching and teaching style aren’t too different.

“I like to run my practices … like my classroom,” Putter said. “I’m not a dictator, but I do like to be a leader. I like to make sure I get attention, and I get through what I need to, and then we have fun.”

For teaching, that means 30 minutes of educational activities at the beginning of each class. For disc golf, though, it means starting practices with 30 minutes of drills and lessons.

WSU’s current Disc Golf Club President Isaac Spicer said practices look a lot different than in years prior. 

“Usually, we play a round at disc golf — that’s pretty much all we did before (Putter was coach),” Spicer, who is an exercise science major, said. “So having Remington there gives us a little bit more to do, a little bit more to narrow down. And also just having some more advice when it comes to form.”

While Putter coaches the team, he’s also considered a player. Spicer said he and others are friends with Putter, who is in his mid-twenties.

“It’s just more of an understanding that he also has a responsibility to actually teach us things and just help us improve,” Spicer said. “It’s definitely not quite the normal coaching dynamic that most teams would have, but … it works.”

Putter’s been involved with the sport for about four years, starting with him playing for fun during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last year, he graduated from amateur divisions to play professionally in various Professional Disc Golf Association tournaments.

“I have always been a person (who says) ‘practice what you preach,’” Putter said. “And so I do have to seek out other people to give me some advice.”

As Putter continues his doctoral program at WSU, he hopes to keep coaching and playing disc golf. He said the intersection of physical activity, health and education is important to him.

“(Some people) see physical education as gym class or physical activity time,” Putter said. “It’s definitely a time where you want kids to be active … but it’s also a time where you teach kids about their bodies. You teach kids about skills, about sports, about activities, about movement, about balance, (about) control. You know all those things that you use in everyday life and for the rest of your lives.”