By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The “Coaches in the Classroom” feature is a weekly series that spotlights and celebrates coaches throughout Portage County, who spend their days in the classrooms and hallways leading today’s student-athletes to be tomorrow’s leaders.

Today’s spotlight is on Streetsboro’s Carl Singer, who is in his 10th year as a teacher and coach with the Rockets.

• How many years have you been a teacher?: 10 years.
  

  Pauline Dierkens/Portage Sports

• Classes taught?: Since I have been at Streetsboro, I have been a seventh-grade Math teacher at the middle school.
• What made you want to become an educator?: I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do going into college and just decided being a teacher was going to be the direction that I would go. I think, for me, I always enjoyed being at school so it was a place I felt comfortable at. I felt that being an educator had a clear purpose.
• What is your favorite part of your job?: I think for both teaching and coaching, it is trying to motivate kids to reach their potential. Some of the kids need motivated to do their best and some just need the confidence to be successful. I enjoy trying to find different ways to help them to reach that potential.
• Which teachers from your past influenced you to go into education?: I had a lot of great teachers, but probably my high school math teacher Mr. Shininger had the most influence. I would say every teacher had some influence, though, and most were good, which made my experience during my K-12 years very good.
• How do you apply some of your coaching to the classroom?: Definitely getting to know the kids and building relationships is so important in both positions. The other part for me is just trying to get the kids to work toward their potential, but remain patient in that process.
• How do you apply some of your classroom to your coaching?: Both roles involve so many similar skills that it’s hard to say, but I would have to say the details in my explanation. I definitely try to be much more intentional about how I present things to players and the words that I use in my explanations.
• Funniest thing that has ever happened to you in your classroom?: It’s hard to choose one thing. At least weekly, a student asks me a random question that makes me laugh. Seventh grade is an interesting time and you never know what they are going to say next.
• Mentors in your building who have helped you along the way?: Since I have been at Streetsboro, I have gotten to know many amazing people that have helped me. Nick Marcini has definitely been somebody who has helped along the way. He has a few more years experience so it’s nice when all I have to do is visit the room next door to get some advice.