Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, was a consummate school counselor, physical education teacher, and coach.

I always enjoy sharing stories about outstanding athletes who become teachers and coaches. One of these is Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, who chose a career in education instead of professional baseball.

Arturo was born on August 21, 1931, in Kingman, Arizona. As a youngster, he attended Kingman High School, where he played varsity basketball, baseball, football, and track. He was particularly adept as a pitcher, and he was even scouted and drafted by the LA Dodgers, but Arturo chose instead to go to college.

As a young man, Arturo attended Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. Later he earned a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of California, Riverside.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree, Arturo inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted a position as a sixth grade teacher in Douglas, Arizona. He also coached baseball and basketball. In 1958, he and his wife relocated to Riverside, California, where he became a teacher at Chemawa Junior High School. He taught Spanish there. Later he transferred to Riverside’s JW North High School, where he worked as a counselor. Arturo also worked as a counselor at both Mira Loma Middle School and Mission Middle School in the Jurupa United School District. Throughout his lengthy career as an educator, Arturo was an advocate for the rights of people in the Mexican American community. In addition, he worked tirelessly for such organizations as MeCha and ESAA. He also spent some time as the Director an an educational program called “Follow Through,” and he worked as a referee for local high school teams.

Arturo retired in 1998. In his golden years he established a translation service and indulged his love for language arts projects—he compiled a dictionary of English idioms, adages, and phrases and translated them into Spanish. This Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 19, 2021, from heart failure. He was 89 years old.