Coach

Every morning I drop my daughter off at Coronado Elementary. Every morning the PE teacher, known to me as "Coach" greets the kids as they are dropped off. I have never seen this man without a smile on his face. He high fives, smiles and speaks to every child that passes him every morning. For two years I have dropped my kids off and for two years I have seen him welcome every single child, every single morning.

Coronado is a small community school on the beachside, it has no gym, it has no real athletic facilities, nothing fancy, a sand lot on the side of the school is where "Coach" teaches PE to the 300 or so students that attend this school. I know that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday when my daughter gets in the car at the end of the day I will hear about the kickball game, the basketball game or whatever great thing they did that day in PE. My son who is now in middle school still talks about his 5th grade year with "Coach" and "Mr T"(his 5th grade teacher, who was cut because of the budget).

I am pretty sure that "Coach" is not out there every morning smiling and greeting the kids because he is getting rich. He is doing it because he loves kids, he loves his job and he is happy doing it. You cannot fake that kind of commitment to children that he shows EVERY SINGLE DAY. This is an example of the teacher's that are being affected by the mess that is our education system. This is the teacher that has to wonder is his school the next one to close? Is his job the next one to go? But no matter what, he is out there every day, smiling and welcoming our kids to school. For some of these kids, he may be one of the only positive things in their day.

Take a minute and shoot an email to these people. They are the ones who can make a difference. Tell them what you think about the budget cuts. The teachers and the children need you to do it.