Tag Archives: Athletic Coaches

George “Sonny” Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran

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Minnesota’s George “Sonny” Franck: Teacher, coach, athlete, and US veteran. Photo credit: National Football Foundation.

Many fine classroom teachers were once successful athletes. This is true of George Franck, a popular Minnesota educator and coach who enjoyed a career as a professional football player before he became a teacher.

George, who was more often called Sonny, was a high school teacher and football coach, first in Oklahoma City and then at Rock Island High School in Illinois. He retired after 25 years as a professional educator in 1978. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and his Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.

But before he became a Chalkboard Champion, Sonny was a halfback in the National Football League, playing for the New York Giants. It was a success story that surprised the humble Iowa boy, who had a reputation in high school for being scrawny but tough.

Sonny became an all-state end for his alma mater, Davenport High School, and led the school to a state track title, anchoring an 880-relay unit that set a state record. After graduation, he was recruited to play football and run track at the University of Minnesota, where he became a starting halfback in 1938. He led the Golden Gophers to a national championship in 1940, his senior year. That season, Sonny was named an All-American, All-Big Ten, and the Most Valuable Player of the College All-Star Game. Academically, he earned the Big Ten Medal for scholarship and athletics. In the Heisman Trophy voting that year, Sonny placed third, and then he was drafted into the NFL in the first round in 1941. That’s when he went to play for the Giants.

Sonny was also a WWII veteran. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan, he served his country in the US Marines, joining as an infantry officer and completing a tour of duty on Iwo Jima. While there, he saw Jack Chevigny, a football star for Notre Dame, killed in action. Sonny eventually became certified as a fighter pilot and served aboard the USS Hornet. A recipient of nine battle stars, he narrowly escaped death when his plane was shot down in the South Pacific in 1945. When the war was over, Sonny resumed his professional football career, playing for the Giants in their 1946, 1947, and 1948 seasons.

Sadly, George “Sonny” Franck passed away from acute leukemia in January, 2011, at the age of 92. But throughout his career as an educator, he was a genuine Chalkboard Champion.

New York’s Joe Lamas: Teacher, coach, NFL player, US veteran

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Many former athletes go on to successful careers as educators and coaches. This is the case with Joseph Francis Lamas, a New York teacher who formerly had been a player in the National Football League (NFL).

Joe Lamas was born on January 10, 1916, in Havana, Cuba. As a young man, he attended Straubenmuller Textile High School in New York City, New York. Following his high school graduation, Joe enrolled at Mount St. Mary’s University, a private Catholic institution of higher learning located in Emmitsburg, Maryland. There he played college football.

Following his education at Mount St. Mary’s, Joe played one season in the NFL. In the 1942 season, he played on the offensive line with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he started in eight games. During the game against the Detroit Lions on November 8, the 5’10”, 216-pound guard scored a spectacular 29-yard fumble recovery touchdown, leading his team to a 34-7 victory. Joe is also a United States veteran. When the 1942 football season ended, he served in the military during World War II.

In 1952, Joe accepted a teaching position at Iona Preparatory School, a private Roman Catholic boys’ school located in New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York. He was also the school’s assistant football coach for five years, and then he was named the head coach in 1957. He held this job until 1961. During his years at Iona, the former football player also coached baseball and worked as the school’s athletic director, and he also taught courses in Latin, history, and health. This accomplished educator retired from teaching and coaching in 1979.

Joe was 80 years old when he passed away on April 22, 1996, in Manhasset, New York. To learn more about him, you can click on SportsLifer Weblog.

Joseph Lamas: A Chalkboard Champion, certainly.

Remembering teacher and coach Scott Beigel, slain in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting

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We remember Florida teacher and coach Scott Beigel, who was slain in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018. Photo credit: runnersworld.com

The community of professional educators is always distressed by the loss of a colleague to campus violence. This is certainly true about Scott Beigel, a teacher and coach who was slain in a school shooting that occurred in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

After earning his Bachelor’s degree in technical Studies from Farmingdale State College, New York, in 2009, Scott moved to Parkland, Florida, where he accepted a position teaching geography at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He also coached the school’s cross country team. In addition, on his summer vacations Scott worked as a counselor at Starlight Summer Camp in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. During the shooting, Scott is credited for saving the lives of students by unlocking his door and letting students inside the classroom to hide. Unfortunately, the heroic teacher could not escape the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, an expelled student from the high school. Scott, who was only 35 years old at the time of his passing, was one of 17 people fatally wounded by Cruz that day.

Since his tragic passing, Scott is sorely missed. “Thousands of people at Camp Starlight looked up to Scott,” asserted Grant Williams, a summer camp colleague. “He was someone you strive to be like.” Student Thomas Risley agreed. “He cared a lot about his students,” Risley remembers. “I’m going to miss his colorful personality.” Former Douglas High student Cameron Kasky also praised the fallen educator. “Scott’s memory lives in the fact that he was able to positively touch the lives of so many young people,” Kasky remarked. After the attack, Kasky became a student leader in the March for Our Lives gun-control movement.

To honor Scot’s sacrifice, his name has been inscribed on the National Memorial to Fallen Educators sponsored by the National Teachers Hall of Fame located in Emporia, Kansas. A street has also been renamed Scott J. Beigel Way in the Dix Hills area of Long Island, New York, where Scott grew up.

 

Beloved Sp Ed teacher and coach Jerry Landers succumbs to Covid-19

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Covid-19 claims the life of beloved high school Special Education teacher and girls basketball coach Jerry Landers of Tennessee. Photo credit: Tennessean

Sadly, we must report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Jerry Landers, a teacher and coach at Gallatin High School in Gallatin, Tennessee, succumbed to the disease on January 9, 2022. He was 60 years old.

Jerry worked at the Gallatin in the Sumner County School District since 2013. There he taught Special Education History and coached the girls basketball team. He served a the last five years as the Head Basketball Coach. After Jerry led his team to a 21-10 record and a Region 5 AAA Quarterfinals appearance, he was named the 2019-2020 District 9-AAA Coach of the Year.

But, says Gallatin High School Principal Ron Becker, “He was much more than just a coach. He was a mentor and a genuinely great guy. It wasn’t all about wins and losses with him as he was more focused on life and mentoring our kids.,” Becker remembered. Jerry’s wife, Nancy, agreed. “Jerry knew he could make a difference by teaching and coaching,” Nancy said. “His love for sports allowed him to reach people, and he always used that to help his students bloom.”

In addition to his work in the classroom and on the basketball court, during his lengthy career as an educator, Jerry coached volleyball, track and field, in addition to serving as a school athletic director, a youth leader, and a Sunday school teacher.

Jerry Landers, born March 30, 1961, was a native of Nashville, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College, a private Baptist college located in Pensacola, Florida. He earned his Maser’s degree from Union University in Hendersonville in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Texas PE teacher and coach Joey Rodriguez succumbs to Covid-19

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Sadly, beloved Texas PE teacher and soccer coach Joey Rodriguez succumbed to Covid-19 on Oct. 17, 2021. He was only 43 years old. Photo credit: The Dallas Morning News.

We are sad to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Joey Rodriguez, and teacher and coach from Arlington, Texas, succumbed to the disease on Sunday, Oct. 17.

At the time of his passing, Joey was a Physical Education teacher and soccer coach at Sam Houston High School in the Arlington Independent School District. Joey Rodriguez devoted 12 years of his professional life to the school.

Former student Selena Saldana, class of 2013, says she will greatly miss her former teacher. “He was my high school PE teacher, and he was always pushing me to do much more,” she remembered. “Every time we had to run on the track and I would stop to take a break, he would yell, ‘Come on, Selena. You can do it. Don’t stop now.’ He was really supportive,” she said.

In addition to teaching physical education, Joey worked as the school’s soccer coach since 2009. “Twice, he led his soccer teams to the state championship,” recalled  Marcelo Cavazos, Superintendent of Arlington Schools. “He grew the program so rapidly that the district had to hire more coaches so that all of the kids who wanted to learn from Coach Rodriguez could have the opportunity,” Cavazos noted.

Coach Rodriguez’s Sam Houston team made their first state tournament appearance in school history in 2015.That year, the student athletes reached the Class 6A semifinals and finished 23-3-2. In 2017, the Sam Houston team was the state runner-up, losing to Jesuit in overtime in the title game to finish 22-3-2. Sam Houston High School is one of only three schools in the Arlington District to qualify for the state tournament in boys soccer. In addition to coaching, Joey served as the President of the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches.

Joey graduated from Abilene High School in 1995 where he participated in soccer, football, and marching band. After his high school graduation, Joey enrolled at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he studied and played soccer for two years before transferring to Hardin Simmons University in Abilene. He graduated from Hardin Simmons with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education in 2001.