Recognizing Longtime Parks & Recreation Instructors News General, News Mayor Office, News Parks and Recreation Tampa Parks & RecHonors Legendary InstructorsTampa Parks &[...]

Tampa Parks & Recreation has plenty of great fitness and wellness instructors, but there are three contract instructors who have set a standard of passion and excellence for decades and deserve to be recognized for the impact they have made on thousands of Tampa residents.

Glen Shull (tennis), Peggy Abreu (yoga), and Master James White (taekwondo) have been teaching and inspiring students for a combined 95 years.

"These individuals deliver an extraordinary level of passion and commitment to improving their community and people's lives," Mayor Jane Castor said. "Glenn, Peggy, and James bring joy to us every day, and we're so fortunate to have had them all these years."

Glen Shull, 83, continues to give tennis lessons at the Himes Avenue Sports Complex to children as young as 5, to teens, and adults. He started playing tennis in college and has been working with Parks & Recreation since 2006.

Peggy Abreu, 76, has been studying and practicing yoga for more than 50 years. She has been teaching for about 40 years, and has been leading classes with Parks & Recreation for 38 years.

James White, 66, started taekwondo at age 8. He has been teaching for 42 years, and offering classes in Parks & Recreation centers for more than 35 years. He is an eighth-degree blackbelt.

Contract instructors play a significant role in Tampa's Parks & Recreation programming, making sports and wellness accessible to everyone.