Thankful for GHS Coaches!

Just ask my family, Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday of the year. It's not about getting stuff. It's about family, friends and most of all--Thanking God for the blessings we have received!

I count it a pure blessing to be the Athletic Director at GHS. We have such a fantastic staff! I enjoy walking into an environment where teachers, principal, assistant principal, office staff, support staff, and coaches are all working toward the same goals. We are a family. It starts with our great Principal. I have been blessed to work with some great principals, Tim Holcomb, Kim Lobsiger, Brent Lehman, and now Matt Smith. All of these men have a genuine heart for kids and their staff.  Matt has a great passion for and cares for his staff and students. Our Assistant Principal works hard to hold our kids to a standard of excellence and is our greatest teacher of Character. He's on the front line to Graduate productive citizens at GHS.  Our Office Staff is also such a key part of our Great School. From the Guidance Staff to the Front Office Staff, to my wonderful Athletic Secretary, we couldn't find better people ANYWHERE. This teaching staff is second to none. They work with all their heart to give our kids the best tools to be successful. I am SO Thankful for these people. But, I have to say I have an even deeper gratitude for the teachers we call Coaches at GHS.

People don't often see Coaches as teachers. They aren't looking close enough. Out of the 14 Head Coaches we have at GHS, we are blessed that 12 are full time teachers in our school. The other two may not have the license of teacher, but they ARE also teachers in every way. I'm not sure our community appreciates how rare that is. I was talking to another area Athletic Director just this week and he was ENVIOUS of our coaching staff. He said, "You have a great mix of young and old coaches. They all seem to work together so well. How do you get so many teachers to want to stick with coaching? We can't get teachers to coach and our community just wants to complain. They don't want to support."

I am so Thankful we have coaches who aren't just trying to win contests. I am equally Thankful our community supports these coaches and what they are trying to accomplish. They ALL are trying to teach kids about life and prepare them for their future. Every choice for planning a practice, every starting line-up decision, every choice to reward or discipline, is to teach. We very rarely see or appreciate all the work that goes in to preparing our teams. The long hours scouting, viewing film, practicing, learning the newest strategies and coaching methods, are never seen by the parents or players. With budget cuts that have been made at GHS and throughout education, they have always found a way to keep the kids first. Our Coaches have a passion to TEACH KIDS and are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to see our kids succeed. They are great LEADERS and great TEACHERS.

So, today when you're watching all those PROFESSIONAL COACHES and PLAYERS (who get paid millions-of-dollars to entertain us on Thanksgiving Day), remember to Thank God for your GHS coaches. They don't earn the money they deserve. If you calculate the pay by the hour, it's below minimum wage. We may not be able to give them all a raise. At the very least, we can Thank God for their tireless dedication to the kids of our community. We can also pray God will grant them the wisdom to teach our kids in the best way they can.

Thanks Coaches! Happy Thanksgiving

Boys Baseball - Cisco Mireles
Boys Basketball - John Bodey
Girls Basketball - Bob Lapadot
Cheerleading - Amanda McGrew
Boys Cross Country - Troy Minton
Girls Cross Country - Stephanie Rhoades
Golf - Tom Kleeman
Softball - Scott Bishop
Boys Soccer - Doug Klopfenstein
Girls Soccer - Terry Yarde
Boys Track - Jake Clifford
Girls Track - Bob Lapadot
Volleyball - Sallie Richardson
Wrestling - Lucas Fielden