by John Dowd
For many people, gym class is the one young people take because it is required by the curriculum, and for many gym teachers, it may be considered just an easy class to teach. However, for Stevensville resident and retired health and physical education teacher Robert Gensemer, PE should be treated, and taught, with more respect. “It’s an underserved subject,” said Gensemer.
Gensemer spent well over 30 years teaching both in Pennsylvania, where he is from, and in Colorado. Living in Pennsylvania, he taught at McCaskey High School in Lancaster, then moved to Denver where he taught at the University of Denver. After that, he finally found himself back in Pennsylvania teaching at Edinboro University in Edinboro. For him, the subjects of sports classes and physical education had great potential to change lives for the better. “There is nothing else in school that deals with those life issues,” said Gensemer, mentioning various potential aspects of the course. Among them, the retired teacher mentioned the potential to teach nutrition, life choices, and both mental and physical health. He explained that it can not only teach young people how to use their bodies, but to carry on a healthy and active life and approach life decisions in a wholesome way.
Gensemer cites his childhood in a small town in Pennsylvania as the source for his views on life and the subjects he taught. Growing up among groups like the Amish, Gensemer learned powerful life lessons. He said, “Small town life stayed with me forever, and those values stayed with me too.” He explained that “living around and with people whose values are apparent” had a deep effect on him. “I liked the way they treated each other.”
For him, this philosophy on physical education, and life in general, led him to write a book set in a small fictional town in Montana. Set in 1959, the book centers on a school, their eight-man football team, and a mysterious coach. The book talks about the value of education, various teachers, why they became and stayed teachers and deeper life lessons. “I wanted people, when they read this, to reflect on their lives,” said Gensemer. Throughout the book, Gensemer ties in numerous genuine characters, many of whom are based on people he knew in real life, including a good Amish friend. 
His book, “In the Land of the Game,” tells the story of small town values and life decisions, without drugs or violence, in a unique take on a human interest tale. He also tells of the environment in which the people live and the effect that has on them. He explained that the book focuses on “things in life that can affect you, that can even go back to experiences in high school, and how other people and their experiences affect our life choices.”
Gensemer said the book took two years to write, and he spoke about the struggles he had with writing it. “It’s both satisfying and dissatisfying at the same time,” said Gensemer on authoring a book. He explained that he was always rewording and reworking parts of it to get it just right. “I was just having fun writing this, and thinking about the people I knew,” he said.
Still active at 86 years old, Gensemer plays handball in the winter and tennis during the summer. He also takes a cardio class twice a week and exercises on an elliptical at home. His book, published in December, can be found in local bookstores, Fact and Fiction in Missoula and online from Barnes and Noble. It can also be found on Amazon.