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Down Syndrome Education Nurture Relationships

Interact

Back in high school I had this coach.

Coach Z. 

I had lots of coaches actually, I played JV and Varsity Soccer, and ran for both the Winter and Spring Track Teams. I had three coaches that I looked up to while I was running, but one that I hold dear to my heart till this day…

Coach was very much like a second father to me while I was in high school. He pushed me to be more than I was, and reminded me that I was part of something bigger. I’m thankful for the effort he put forth in helping me become the person who he knew I could be. 

Coach asked me to join Interact, which is the club that he advised. The premise of Interact is that we would interact with the community we lived in. Whether that be attending conferences where we would meet other schools and see the kind of volunteer work that they were doing in their own communities, shadowing professionals in our small town to see if it was something we would be interested in doing, or (the most valuable experience to me in my high school career) volunteering our time in A.R.C. weekly.

He pushed me to do things totally outside my comfort zone, like run 10 miles on Sunday with the Cross Country Team. 

TAKE NOTE:  I was not ON the Cross Country Team. I didn’t want to BE on the Cross Country Team, but he thought it would be good for me as an athlete to do these runs with them simply…because…

He challenged me to be a better version of myself by calling me C.A. (Class Act.) He reminded me that I should hold myself to a higher standard…even if everyone else wasn’t doing so…

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I posted this picture the other day for #TBT. All of the people in this pic were in Interact too. In fact, it wasn’t until after one of my high school friends commented on the photo that I realized it must have been during one of our after school meetings with Coach that this picture was snapped. 

And it got me to thinking….

Thinking about how much Coach prepared me for the life I live now…about how he reminded me it was important to give my time to others simply because I could…

And it’s only now…that I can look back on this picture, and think about the activities and the volunteerism that Interact (or rather Coach) required of us that I realized he was preparing me for such a big part of my life with Gelli…

Thank you Coach. Thank you oh so much. 

 

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Comments

  1. Becky says

    April 22, 2015 at 7:51 pm

    I had him and his wife for math! They were simply awesome!

  2. Peter A. Ressa says

    April 24, 2015 at 12:12 am

    Yes Michelle, He did a good job!

  3. Bobby malone says

    November 24, 2015 at 3:37 am

    He was a great coach, always pushes you to do your best. I did a warrior dash a few year’s ago and swear I could hear him yelling ” come on Malone “the whole time.

    • michelle says

      November 30, 2015 at 2:24 pm

      Hey Bobby! Thanks for stopping by. I think those are the teachers that we will always love and remember. He was the kind of teacher that really did push you to do your best, but in a way where you wanted to do it not just for yourself, but for him, too!

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