Teacher-Coaches Balance Lifestyle

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Stephenie Mikel Blevins

Girls basketball coach, Andrew Bellairs, consults the players during a timeout during their past season.

Emily Humphreys, Reporter

Rockbridge County is full of teachers that devote seven hours of their time to students every weekday. That does not include the work that they have to do at home to grade students’ work and answer emails. 

On top of that, many teachers at RCHS are also coaches, and devote their evenings to their players on top of a full school day. Balancing coaching and teaching can be challenging and very time-consuming. 

Girls tennis and basketball coach and algebra teacher, Andrew Bellairs, shares how he balances coaching and teaching.

“It is hard, but I do more stuff on the weekends like grading, and I use my planning period every day,” said Bellairs.

Finding a good balance between sports and school is very important. Without a healthy medium you can become very overwhelmed and stressed. It’s essential to find a good balance,even if it means you have to take away some free time during the day. 

Baseball coach and gym teacher, Nick Perlozzo explains what he does to stay on track with teaching as well as coaching.

“I’ve given up on free time, but that’s okay because I stay busy. Whenever I’m not doing anything, I do my coaching stuff. I come here early and stay here late,” said Perlozzo.

Students in the school need to understand and recognize the hard work and dedication that their teachers put forth, not only in the classrooms but also in extracurricular activities as well. 

They devote their time and knowledge to the students at Rockbridge, including their athletes. As a student body, we should be very grateful for their hard work.