Coach has never stopped being a teacher, leader
Teachers never stop teaching. Leaders never stop leading. Good ones anyway. The ones who do it to make a difference, and not just for a salary, only stop teaching and leading when they die. On the day when they leave this world, we have lost something valuable.
Some may think writing a column takes little time and effort. Nothing could be further from the truth. It can be painstaking at times coming up with a topic every week that someone might care about. After writing several hundred columns, topics become harder and harder to settle on. Then there are those who despise the newspaper and think everything we write is stupid. They are a vocal few who usually leave anonymous comments in the Soap Box. I don’t know if it bothers other columnists or not. We don’t collaborate. Sometimes, I feel like throwing up my hands and quitting.
Some time ago, I wrote a col- umn about one of my elemen- tary school teachers, Homer Key. You will never hear me refer to him by his first name. It will either be Mr. Key or Coach. Though retired, he is a teacher, a leader, and someone who has made an impact on my life. This column will be different from the other one written about him. It comes at a different time and has a different meaning.
Almost fifty years ago, Coach Key came into my life when he started teaching at North Canton Elementary School. If you were privileged to know Lee Roy Tippens, then you know he would not have allowed anyone teaching in his school who didn’t have the highest moral and ethical standards. I was just a kid. Yet somehow, Coach Key and I developed a bond through his humorous and kind way of teaching me about accountability and discipline. He was a teacher and a leader. His guidance would be one of my true and first lessons on leadership, though I wouldn’t understand it at the time.
As an adult, work would bring Coach Key and I together in defense of an abused and neglected child. It amazed me at the time how much homework he had done on this particular student. She was one of his kids as he called all his students. He made it his job to know everything he could about each of us. As we dealt with other government officials on this case, my demeanor was less than pleasant as I came to the defense of the child. Coach Key had my back. He made it very clear he was on the side of the child, and me. I was wearing the gun and badge. But we were in his office. He was in charge. I never lost sight of that. He was still teaching and leading me.
Throughout my career, I have received and answered thousands of emails. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Coach Key. I will not go into the details of his email or my response. It was a private conversation between the teacher and the student. I will tell you this. While I am a sixty-year-old man, Coach Key in his email was still teaching and leading me as much as he always has. The email did speak of our connection through our mutual love of God. Though I won’t tell you all he or I said, I can say I finished reading his email through the stream of tears which flowed from my eyes. As I grow older, the tears flow freer. No amount of money could buy what his email meant to me.
At three different stages in my life, Coach Key has been a teacher and a leader who I am humbled to call a friend and a brother in Christ. In my response to his kind email, I told him without any hesitation that I love him. He still refers to me as one of his kids. I don’t now and will never take that responsibility lightly. Coach Key is a man I don’t want to ever disappoint.
Make no mistake, in no way do I think I am special because of his care and friendship. There is no telling how many of his kids he still reaches out to today. But just being one of them is enough for me. When I received his email, I was struggling with the relevance of my column. After hearing from Coach Key, I was reminded this column is not about me. It’s about how God is working in so many people’s lives who make up our community.
Even in retirement, Coach Key is a teacher, a leader, a friend, and a brother in Christ. His influence on my life is immeasurable. Maybe he did the same for you. Or maybe you have your own Coach Key. Either way, if you have the chance, tell them you love them. You’ll be glad you did!