I didn't know that!

On Monday, August 26, I was looking for some research and I came across something I found really interesting which was the average salary of a high school coach in the United States. Now before I say more, I must admit I thought that if you were a teacher AND a coach at a high school you would earn more money because well, you are doing more than the other teachers. According to http://www.ehow.com, there are "better earnings for coaches, especially when schools hire full-time coaches on a salary rather than simply paying a teacher an extra stipend to handle coaching duties." With that being said, I found it really interesting to find out that I was wrong but not completely! (Not that I  mind being wrong because I don't at all.) Of course when it comes to jobs, location is always a top 3 factor to consider, correct? Well same for softball coaches. School districts that are wealthier tend to have a bigger budget that's put towards their athletic programs which means the coaches have better earnings. Not only does location matter for the income of a softball coach but the more experience you are the more money you earn. Let's say we have a history teacher who used to coach a softball team but stopped coaching to teach if the school were to hire him/her to coach the softball team, THEN the history teacher/ coach would receive more money than the other teachers with location not being a factor because the teacher has experience. (That's what I mean by not completely wrong.)

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, coaches with:

• Low-End Salary earn less than $15,000.
• According to a 2010 article written by Eric Sondheimer for the Los Angeles Times, High-End Salary (experienced head coaches) in countries where the most competitive high school leagues are can usually make a little bit over $100,000 per year.
• Average Salary: 50% of high school coaches can earn between $18,220 - $43,440 per year in 2008 and these same statistics mean that "the median annual wages in 2008 for full-time coaches in secondary schools was around $22,000."

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

"Life will always throw you curves, just keep fouling them off, the right pitch will come and when it does be prepared to run the bases." -Sara Ann Nielsen

1. The person I plan on interviewing is La Puente High School's varsity coach, Jennifer Dorado. My topic is "coaching a softball team," but specifically a high school one and LPHS is literally down the street from me so why not go there for my first interview. Plus my best friend, Karissa, is on the team and i've been to plenty of her games where i've had a few encounterings with Jennifer so our interview this Thursday won't be our first time talking.

2. Questions:

• Some people tend to coach a team instead of playing on one due to certain injuries, was being a softball coach something you've always consider doing as a career?
• How would you describe what kind of coach you are?
• What do you believe is your team's greatest strength? Why?
• How would you describe the pace at which you work?
• What is your greatest accomplishment so far with your team? Why?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

"To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way." -Pat Riley

Senior project topic: Softball Coach

I plan to do a few things this year to show growth in each of the ESLRs and hopefully most of them get me out of my comfort zone. Examples of how I plan to do so are below.

1. Effective Learner: 
• Junior year I spent almost every single lunch in pangs room because science is just not a subject that really seems to connect with me and maybe this year science won't be any different. I will definitely do the same thing as junior year and stay after lunch, or during, to get the help I need. I have plenty of friends who are great teachers and spend a little more time to make the subject a little more adaptable. The more I stayed in junior year during lunch the more I started to see my test scores improve and started to actually finish my work in class early with extra time to spare so I see no reason to change that.
• Personal creativity for me probably won't be a tough one to show because I tend to be good at not limiting myself nor worrying about making mistakes as you will see through my presentations (hopefully) but definitely throughout my senior project and my senior project. Plus I tend to take full advantage my mentors will provide me with.
2. Effective Communicator: 
• To work towards my goal of being an effective communicator I would love to step up more in my classes when it comes to the roles we are given when we are in groups because my projection could use some work. However, I will never be big headed where I think my ideas are way better than others. Everyones opinion is important in some way and I hope to achieve that this year. 
3. Effective User of Technology:
• I will take the full advantages that the internet, the library that's down my street, Cal Poly's library, and any family member/friend(s) that can provide me with the best knowledge about my topic or anything I have a question on. All of the above are always an option just in case I ever need a deeper understanding on a subject.
4. Effective I-Poly citizen: 
• To be an effective I-poly citizen I will continue to stick to dance but also this year I want to contribute as much as I can as a member of the prom committee. I will also help any classmate or anyone at I-poly that ever needs help with something I understand and they don't. 

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for my mentorship and since I usually help out my old elementary or middle school in the summer I thought why not mentor someone in teaching or counseling. Unfortunately Mrs. Schoonover, Sierra Vista Middle School's counselor, wasn't available so I ask my 7th grade English and History teacher, Johnny Chung, if I could mentor under him. He told me he could really use some help setting up his new classroom because he had to move across the campus. Teaching isn't something I can ever see myself doing as a career but I can't just pass it up as an option.

Contact Info:

Johnny Chung
jochung@hlpusd.k12.ca.us

(714) 213-4211

Having gone to middle school with Mr. Chung as my teacher it was really easy for me to mentor under him because any questions I had I knew he would always have a great answer to them. Before this summer, I would actually stop by my old middle school and help Mr. Chung and Mrs. Song (his wife who also works in the same middle school) with the same thing I did this summer so I wasn't lost on what I was doing but this summer was different because I actually wanted to know about the career and not just be kind and help. With that being said, I always had a few questions for them, or anything teacher for that matter, that I was always curious about.
A few questions that I had were:

• How do you know that certain activities will be enjoyable but also helpful for the topic you are going to teach?
• Was teaching your first choice right out of high school?
• Out of your years of teaching if you had to pick a successful year, what year would that be and why?

The most important thing i've learned from this mentorship is that there is so much preparation involved before a student enters the classroom. The teacher had to go through each student's file and find whether there is anything in the past that will affect their ability to learn. Teachers also review where the student is weak and where they are strong. They look for any family problems just to examine any issues they had in the past. Another thing I learned that I found interesting was that most teachers now work in groups and they even create group test so everyone on the grade level can take the same test.

As much as I enjoyed helping an old teacher and learning about what being a middle school teacher takes, teaching just isn't for me. I wouldn't have the patience for it nor do I think i'm creative enough but I do like the thought of interacting with people everyday but maybe more of a coaching aspect. I had to stop playing softball do to an arm injuring and I could go back now but it's not really something I am still interested in. I love the sport and what it brings out of people and since this mentorship taught me that I might enjoy coaching, I don't see what the harm is in combining the two things I enjoy. My topic for senior year will be Coaching a Softball team. I've already got two people who would love to mentor me for my senior year.

Log of Mentorship Hours: click here