Fall quarter brings many new changes to De Anza College, one of which is the appointing of a new Dean of Physical Education.  Coleen Lee-Wheat, a former P.E. instructor, was appointed at the August 6 district Board of Trustees meeting.
Lee-Wheat fills in the position vacated by retiring dean Rich Schroeder. The responsibility of caring for De Anza’s Physical Education Department has now fallen on the shoulders of Lee-Wheat.  Besides being a full time instructor at De Anza, starting in the fall of 1998, Lee has also worked as an assistant women’s athletic trainer, head women’s tennis coach at Foothill College in 1985, and as head women’s tennis coach at Riverside Community College in 1986. De Anza is where Lee- Wheat herself began her college career, attending in 1973 and transferring to UCLA in 1975.  Lee-Wheat coached tennis at De Anza full time from 2004 to 2009.  
One of the biggest accomplishments in her tennis career was being on De Anza’s first women’s tennis team.  The fact De Anza was her alma mater persuaded Lee-Wheat to pursue being an employee here. The opportunities available for both the students and the staff prompted Lee-Wheat to dedicate 14 years of her life to the college. De Anza gives students of color “opportunities to succeed,” and has “a very unique environment, and I’m very lucky to be a part of it,” she said.
“Great facilities, great teachers, you can get a well rounded education here,” Lee-Wheat said she believes De Anza provides its employees with professional challenges. “There’s always a challenge around the corner,” she said.
Lee-Wheat said she wants people to view physical education as a valued class.
“Our piece is very unique in physical education, and personally I think it’s a very important piece,” she said.