Tag Archives: Athletic Coaches

CA educator Catherine Borek: Her enthusiasm is infectious

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Here is English and Theater Arts teacher Catherine Borek of Compton, California. Her love for her students and for her work with them is absolutely infectious. No wonder she was named one of five California State Teachers of the Year. Just watch this video about her which was made a year ago, when she was selected the 2022 Teacher of the Year by the Compton Unified School District, and you’ll see what I mean.

Catherine teaches Advanced Placement English Literature and Drama at Dominguez High School. It was the Teach for America program that originally brought her into the classroom. Since that first year, she has devoted all 26 years of her career as an educator to Dominguez.

When Catherine first started working at the school, she was dismayed to discover that the Drama program had long been defunct. Believing the performing arts to be very important, she threw her considerable energy into reviving the program. The new program’s first year, 1999, she co-produced the play Our Town with colleague Karen Greene. The efforts were recorded in a documentary which became an award-winning film.

But the teacher credits her students themselves with their successes. “What makes Compton special and what test scores don’t show is that we have some really creative students and some true problem-solvers,” declares Catherine. “That’s something to be celebrated.”

Catherine also coaches the school’s rugby team, which she founded. And as if all that were not enough, the honored teacher has led her students to the completion of the LA Marathon, collaboration with the LA Opera, and starring in a Keurig commercial.

Her hard work has not gone unnoticed. In addition to being named the 2022 Teacher of the Year by the Compton Unified School District and one of five educators named as a Teacher of the Year by the LA County Office of Education, she has also been honored as one of five California State Teachers of the Year.

“To be distinguished as Teacher of the Year is no minor designation in our district,” asserts School Board Member Micah Ali. “It says that you have made an impact in the lives of both students and your colleagues. It means that you have contributed significantly toward our district elevating and opening doors to opportunities for our students,” he concluded.

 

New York PE teacher Betty Lacey coached boys’ and girls’ sports during WWII

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Athletic coach and physical education teacher Betty Lacey of Sherwood, New York, was one of the very few women in that period who coached both boys’ and girls’ sports teams. Photo credit: auburnpub.com

Many women make fine athletic coaches, but very few have coached both boys’ and girls’ teams, especially in the 1940’s. One such coach was Betty Lacey, a physical education teacher from Sherwood, New York.

As a young woman, Betty earned her Bachelor’s degree from Sargent College at Boston University in 1944. In 1964, she earned her Master’s degree in Physical Education from Ithaca College in New York.

After her graduation from Boston University, Betty inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a physical education teacher at Sherwood Central High School in Sherwood, New York. From 1944 to 1946, while World War II was in full swing which created a serious shortage of manpower, Betty taught and coached both boys’ and girls’ sports teams. This was highly unusual, even for that time. While at Sherwood, Betty coached boys’ football, basketball, and baseball. In addition, she officiated women’s university volleyball and basketball games at institutions across upstate New York and the northeast.

From 1956 to 1981, Betty taught at Auburn High School in New York. While there, the indefatigable educator coached all of the girls’ major athletic teams, including a record-setting field hockey team. Under her leadership, the Auburn teams garnered four consecutive New York State Championship titles in girls’ field hockey.

For her work as an athletic coach, Betty earned many accolades. She was the first woman to be inducted into the New York State Coaches Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into the Auburn High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Ithaca College Athletic hall of Fame. In addition, Ithaca College Women’s Basketball bestows an annual award in her honor.

Betty Lacey passed away on August 11, 2012. To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see her obituary at Legacy.com.

PE teacher and football coach Brick Mitchell was a fine athlete

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High school PE teacher and football coach Brick Mitchell was, himself, an exceptional football player. Photo credit: Public Domain

Many fine educators also enjoy success in professions other than teaching. One of these is Brick Mitchell, a high school physical education teacher who also earned fame as a football player and college football coach.

Brick was born Clarence Leon Mitchell, but was always known by his nickname, “Brick.” His birth year is believed to be 1894. As a young man, Brick played college football at the University of Oregon from 1915 to 1918, when World War I was in full swing. In 1916, he was selected to the All-Pacific Coast football team. He played the position of end. During his college years, Brick played three games in the Rose Bowl.

In the 1920s, Brick coached football at San Mateo High School in San Mateo, California. The school is located 20 miles south of San Francisco. In 1926 Coach Mitchell led his team to its first state championship. Next, Brick worked as a line coach at the University of California, Berkeley. From there he was hired as the Head Football Coach at the University of Nevada, Reno. He coached there from 1932 to 1935. During those years, he led his team, the Wolf Pack, to a record of 10 wins, 20 losses, and 3 ties.

In 1958, Brick returned to the high school. There he taught physical education, mechanical drawing, and math at Oroville High School in Oroville, California. Oroville is a public high school located in the rural northern valley at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.

Sadly, Brick Mitchell passed away on Oct. 21, 1963, at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco. He was 69 years old.

Teacher, coach, football player, and WW II veteran Tony Zuzzio

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Teacher, coach, former professional football player, and World War II veteran Tony Zuzzio. Photo credit: Muhlenberg College

Many fine athletes devote their considerable talent as educators and coaches after they have concluded their professional careers. This is certainly true of Tony Zuzzio, a long-time teacher and coach who once played professional football for the Detroit Lions.

Anthony Joseph Zuzzio was born on August 5, 1916, in Irvington, Essex County, New Jersey. He grew up in nearby Belleville, where he attended Belleville High School. As a teenager, Tony excelled at multiple sports. For his achievements as an athlete, Tony was inducted into his high school Hall of Fame in 1977.

Following his high school graduation, Tony enrolled in Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he played the position of tackle on the football team. While there he was named an All-American. Following his college experience, Tony played professional football in the National Football League (NFL). The 5’11”, 215-pound youth played as both a guard and a tackle for the Detroit Lions during the 1942 season.

Tony was a true American hero. During World War II, the former football star served his country in the armed services, where he earned an American Theater Ribbon, a Good Conduct Medal, and a World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged in 1946.

After his military service, Tony coached baseball in Coffeyville in Kansas. There the consummate coach took his team to a national title. For the span of 34 years, Tony channeled his energy as a teacher and coach at nearby Edna High School in Kansas, then at Chetopa High School in Labette County, next at Elk City, Kansas, and finally at Humbolt High School in Humbolt, Kansas. In addition, from 1964 to 1966, Tony moonlighted as a professional scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On April 7, 2002, this Chalkboard Champion and American veteran passed away in Lawrence, Kansas. He was 85 years old. He is interred at Mount Olive Roman Catholic Cemetery in Parsons, Kansas.

MA science teacher Alexandria Sylvia earns MAST Award

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Chemistry teacher Alexandria Sylvia garnered a 2022 Dawn Sather Exemplary New Teacher Award from the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers. Photo Credit: Brockton Public Schools

It is always my pleasure to share the story of an outstanding educator who has earned recognition for their work in the classroom. One of these is Alexandria Sylvia, a science teacher from Massachusetts who has garnered a 2022 Dawn Sather Exemplary New Teacher Award from MAST (Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers). The New Teacher Award is given each year to teachers who have demonstrated remarkable achievement, accomplishment, and promise as science educators.

Alexandria teaches Chemistry at Brockton High School in Brockton, Massachusetts. She has done this for the past four years. Over the past two years, Alex has served as a member of her school’s Science Department Steering Committee. In addition, she coaches the field hockey team. Alexandria also teaches Earth Science in the school district’s evening and summer school programs, and she serves as a support teacher in the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Biotech Apprenticeship Program.

The honored educator is obviously well-regarded by her colleagues. “Alex is a wonderfully positive person and her enthusiasm for teaching science is infectious,” declares Dr. David Mangus, Chair of the Brockton High School Science Department. “The energy she brings to the classroom and the student-centered activities she designs, draw students in and trigger their innate curiosity,” he says.

Alexandria teaches in the same high school she attended as a teenager. She graduated from Brockton High School in 2014. Prior to teaching at Brockton, she inaugurated her career as an educator at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

After graduating from high school, Alexandria completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at Stonehill College located in Easton, MA. While there, she worked as a research assistant. Her research focused on the M13mp bacteriophage vectors that infect E. coli cells. She also completed a one-week community service project sponsored by Stonehill College. She traveled to Tennessee with ten other people and worked to repair and repaint a woman’s home, improve landscaping, and worked in the food pantry at the volunteer house where they were staying.

Alexandria Sylvia: Truly an impressive young educator.