Bellevue West is no stranger to talent, with it being filled with many creative and athletic individuals. The teachers task themselves with teaching academically, but many teachers also become involved with athletics as members of the coaching team. Coaching for a sport is no easy task, and learning to balance this with teaching is something different teachers have developed strategies for throughout the year.
Biology and Geometry teacher Brandon Crenshaw is an assistant coach for the cross country team. He compares learning to balance coaching and teaching to a situation where a paper is due the next day, saying you “just have to get it done.” Incorporating work on weekends and late at night allows him to stay on task of both running and teaching.
“It’s all about time commitment, knowing what I’ve got to do and when I have to do it,” Crenshaw said.
Thinking about coaching as a way to help others and a chance away from the classroom is another way to alleviate the stress balancing teaching brings.
“I feel like it’s a different way of teaching,” Crenshaw said, “It kind of shakes me up and keeps me fresh.”
Math teacher Nolan Barry is also the head coach for boys wrestling. He relies on skills like communication and organization to stay up to date on both teaching and coaching the wrestlers.
“It helps when I’m organized, and it also helps when I have other teachers and coaches that support me,” Barry said.
Barry said he relied on the other teachers in the math department to plan curriculum and stay on track.
“I get a lot of help from the other teachers in the math department, especially the other freshmen math teachers,” Barry said. “We plan together and work really well.”
Finding ways to manage the different aspects of teaching and coaching takes many forms for the Bellevue West staff, but ultimately both coaches said they appreciate their roles.
“It’s nice to see students in a different way than you see just in class,” Crenshaw said, “It’s still a learning environment, but it’s just a different structure, and you get to see other sides of their personality.”
