Tag Archives: Athletic Coaches

Special Education Teacher David Allen Johnson: Chalkboard Champion and Olympic Athlete

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Dave-Johnson640[1]Since the Olympic Games in Sochi have dominated the news the past week, now is a great time to honor our chalkboard champions who are also accomplished Olympic athletes. One such individual is David Allen Johnson, a special education teacher from Oregon who earned a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

Dave was born on April 7, 1963, in North Dakota. He grew up in Missoula, Montana, where he attended CS Porter Elementary School, Sentinel High School, and Big Sky High School. In 1980, Dave’s family moved to Corvallis, Oregon. Dave was enrolled in Crescent Valley High School, where he graduated in 1981.

Even as a child, Dave was exceptionally fit and coordinated and lifted weights from a young age. He played Little League baseball and experimented with boxing. During his adolescence, however, Dave was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease in both knees, a condition that kept him from participating in high school sports. Despite his condition, during his junior high year, he excelled in track, touch football, and basketball.

In his years in high school, Dave admits that he made some bad choices. “Basically, I just didn’t have a lot to do. I just got into trouble,” he once said. “There were ten of us who did things together a lot. We called ourselves the West Side Gang. We didn’t know what we doing. We just wanted to call ourselves something. We had nothing to do.” With these friends, Dave was involved in a series of petty thefts, mostly stealing soda pop and beer from local distributors, but there were also some home burglaries. One of the boys was caught and informed on the rest. When Dave went to the Olympic Games in 1992, he detailed his experiences to reporters, and later used the material for his book and speaking tour as an example on how a teenager could turn his life around.

After high school, Dave enrolled at Azuza Pacific University, a private Christian college located in Azuza, California. While there, he started to compete in decathlon events. At 6’4″, he put his innate abilities and his constant physical training to use and began setting records. Dave became a four-time national champion, and competed in the Olympic trials four times. He earned a berth on the US Olympic Team twice, first in 1988, and then again in 1992. During the 1992 competition, Dave suffered a stress fracture in his left foot on the first day of events. Despite his injury, he put on shoes that were two sizes too big, laced them up tightly, and completed anyway. Astonishingly, he won a bronze medal in the pole vault. Dave retired from competitive sports in 1997.

Dave earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1986, and completed the requirements for his master’s degree in special education in 2003. He accepted his first teaching position in 1998 as a special education resource teacher at Sierra Vista Middle School in Covina, California. In his year and a half there, Dave also served as the Head Coach for track and the Assistant Coach for football. For the next six years, Dave was a special education teacher, Head Track Coach, and Assistant Football Coach at West Albany High School in Albany, Oregon. He then spent two years as an Assistant Principal and Director of Athletics at Jefferson High School in Jefferson, Oregon, followed by a two-year stint as the Athletic Director at South Salem High School in Salem, Oregon. In June 2009, Dave was named as the Athletic Director of  Corban University, a small private college in Salem.

After three and a half years at Corban, Dave left the field of education to become a motivational speaker. He also wrote the autobiographical book Aim High – An Olympic Decathlete’s Inspiring Story, with Verne Becker. This chalkboard champion and Olympic athlete was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Currently, Dave serves on the local Salem Keizer Education Foundation Board, raising much-needed funding for schools and teachers. He also does volunteer coaching with his local Salem Track Club, a youth track and field organization.

 

 

Torin Nathaniel Smith: The New York Giants Player Who Became a Junior High School Geography Teacher

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1dallas cowboys games giants[1]Many chalkboard champions have made a name for themselves in professions other than education. Such is the case with Torin Nathaniel Smith, a junior high school geography teacher who is also a former professional football player.

Torin was born on September 30, 1961. He attended Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona. In 1985, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. While in college, Torin played for the Hampton Pirates as a defensive end, defensive tackle, and linebacker. One year he played for the Pensacola Stars, a semi-pro team that no longer exists. In 1987, Torin made his professional debut in the National Football League as a defensive end with the New York Giants. It makes sense that he would play that position, as he is a hefty man, measuring 6’4″ in height and weighing in at 230 pounds. Torin played for the Giants for one year.

Before becoming a school teacher, Torin worked extensively mentoring juvenile delinquents and emotionally disturbed teenagers. He did a stint as a substitute high school teacher and worked as a body guard at rock concerts, but then accepted a position as a geography and civics teacher at J. H. Workman Middle School in Pensacola, Florida. He also served as the Head Coach for the Workman Middle School Lady Jags Basketball Team and Track Club. During the 2011-2012 school year, the Lady Jags Basketball Team went undefeated (10-0) and won the Escambia County Middle School Basketball Championship. That same year, the Lady Jags Track Club won the Escambia County Middle School Track Championship.

Well done, Torin!

Nantucket Coach Beau Almodobar Used to Play for the NFL

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footballequipment25-01[1]Many talented athletes go on to become coaches after their careers as professional players are complete. Such is the case with Beau Almodobar, a junior high school physical education teacher who once played for the National Football League. He is pictured here, in the center, with two of his players.

Beau was born born October 25, 1962, in San Francisco, California. He played college football for the Norwich University Cadets. Norwich, also known as The Military College of Vermont, is a private university located in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private military college in the United States. At 5’9″ and 180 pounds, Beau played the position of wide receiver for the Cadets. After he graduated from the university, he played one season with the New York Giants as a replacement player. That was in 1987.

Beau currently teaches physical education and health at Cyrus Pierce Middle School in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He has served as the Head Varsity Coach for basketball in the Nantucket Public School system, and also coaches football for the Nantucket High School Whalers. A well-rounded athlete, Beau also runs ACKventure summer camps for baseball and basketball for Nantucket youth.

Well done, Beau!

Erwin Claggett: The Basketball Star Who is Now a High School Social Studies Teacher and Head Basketball Coach

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4f98701ae640b.preview-300[1]Many talented educators and coaches were once professional athletes. This is the case with Erwin Clagget, a high school social studies teacher and basketball coach who happens to be a former professional basketball player.

Erwin, born in 1973, graduated high school in Venice, Illinois, where he earned the nickname the “Venice Menace.” But he is probably most famous for his college basketball career at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. There he played combo guard for the St. Louis Billikens between 1991 and 1995. At 6 feet, 1 inch, and 185 pounds, Erwin  played a total of four seasons for the Billikens, where he scored a total of 1,910 points. He was named the all-time leading scorer of the Great Midwest Conference, and because the conference disbanded in 1995, he will always hold that record. He led the squad to a berth in the 1994 NCAA Tournament, where they lost in the opening round to Maryland. During his senior year, the Billikens earned another berth into the tournament, this time losing to Wake Forest. Despite these losses, in 1995, Erwin was honored by the Associated Press as an All-American, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Saint Louis University Athletic Hall of Fame. After college,  Erwin played professional basketball in Europe.

Erwin earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Louis in 1995 and his master’s from Lindenwood University in 2003. He began his career as a professional educator and coach at   Venice High School in Missouri, where he worked for two years. He then transferred to McCluer High School in Florissant, Missouri, where he spent nine years as a social studies teacher and the Head Basketball Coach. While there, the McCluer High Comets consistently ranked as one of the area’s top teams, often battling for the championship of the Suburban North Conference, which is one of the toughest basketball leagues in the state. In his nine years there, Erwin’s teams posted a record of 169-60, including three Suburban North Conference titles. During his tenure, the Comets produced many talented players, including NCAA Division I players Lonnie and Shaquille Boga. Three times Coach Claggett was named the league’s Coach of the Year: in 2004, 2006, and again in 2010. In 2012, Erwin was named the Head Basketball Coach at St. Louis University High School, where he also teaches social studies.

Well done, Erwin!

Tennis Great and Track Star Walter K. Wesbrook: He Was Also a Teacher and Coach

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602px-Walter_Wesbrook_long_jump[1]Very often talented athletes go on to become gifted educators and coaches. Such is the case with Walter Kenneth Wesbrook, a champion tennis player from the University of Michigan who became an exceptional coach at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena, California.

Walter was born in 1898 in Detroit, Michigan. After his high school graduation, he attended the University of Michigan, where it quickly became obvious he was a stellar athlete in tennis. The left-hander won the Big Ten doubles title with tennis partner Nicholas Bartz in 1919, and he garnered the singles titles in 1919 and 1920. In 1921, a ruptured appendix kept him from winning the singles title a third time. In addition, in 1920, Walter reached the singles and doubles finals at the Cincinnati Masters Tournament, but he was eliminated in the singles competition in four tough sets to Hennessey. With partner Kenneth Simmons, he lost the doubles final to the team of Hennessey and Fritz Bastian in five sets. By 1921, Walter was named a coach at Michigan, and the one season he was there went 8–3. In 1923, Walter reached the doubles final at the US Clay Court Championship with his tennis partner, John Hennesey. The pair were defeated by brothers  Howard and Robert Kinsey of San Francisco. Later that year, Walter won the Western Lawn Tennis Association championship over George Lott.

In addition to tennis, Walter also competed in the pole vault and long jump for the Michigan Wolverines track team. He could pole vault 12 feet and long jump 23 feet.

After his playing career, Wesbrook became a teacher and tennis coach at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena. He also competed many times in the Senior Olympics, and he still holds numerous national track and field records for the 75-79 and 80-84 age groups.

This chalkboard champion passed away in Los Angeles in January, 1991, at the age of 92.