Educator of the Year Nomination
Steve Hazewski




When people think of an educator, the first thing that they normally think of is a teacher from school. But the first person I thought of was my dad. He’s not a school teacher, but he taught me the game of baseball. From the time I got my very first baseball glove up until today, he has been coaching me and supporting me in baseball. He was the head coach of my middle school team in 6th – 8th grade. That’s a time when he not only taught me, he taught the whole team.


Middle school baseball was the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball. My dad coached us to 3 championships; we lost the first 2, but we won the third. That was one of the best feelings ever. My dad was there every single practice helping us and teaching us new techniques and different approaches to the game. It made the season much more fun.


Practices and games were always enjoyable. Everyone respected my dad, and he never picked favorites. We had times when we knew we had to be serious, and we had times when we knew we could all mess around. Instead of the boring orthodox practices that some teams would have, we would make it enjoyable, so everyone would leave that field in a good mood still loving the game.


The teaching didn’t start in middle school. I remember on Christmas years ago I got my very first glove. That day, my dad and I went out in the front yard, and that’s where it all began. He taught me to throw and catch which eventually led up to him signing me up for T-ball and Little League. He was the head coach of my T-ball team and almost every single little league team I played on. He was by my side the entire time supporting and helping me.


I could have written about any of my many school teachers I’ve had in the past, but nobody impacted me more than my dad. I have no idea what I’d be doing without him being there for me. He loves coaching and getting involved in every sport I play. Everyone else on the team loved him as a coach too. That’s why I am proud to nominate my own father as the educator of the year.