People often think football coaches are jocks, only focused on football paying no attention to school. Mr. Feuerstahler has a devoting love for coaching kids, but he also loves teaching them. He'll stand outside his classroom during passing time and say hi to each of his students just to make sure they are having a good day. He gets us to interact and be comfortable with each other by asking the person around us a simple question. It may seem pointless but a simple "How are you?" can change someone's day. It's the smile he puts on everyone's face with his warming personality that makes everyone's days exceptional. 

Obviously as a teacher, a coach, and a father, he should love kids. Since the other wide receiver coach quit without notice before summer ended, Mr. Feuerstahler had to take over the freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity teams.  This required extra hours and commitment in order for the team to succeed.  I recently figured out that on average a football coach makes $1.50 an hour--from the film analysis to the games.  But he is willing to give up his time to do what he does best and cherishes most--impact the lives of teenagers.        

Coach F, as we call him, is a man of integrity and dedication.  He's dedicated to his players and his family. He also does the little things. During his off periods at school, he brings his players to his room to watch film. We enjoy this bonding period, which is usually met with smack talking and eating snacks.  The film period gives us a break from school and helps me concentrate for the rest of the day. It's about the laughter we share together and the friendship we've built through the film analysis to crunch time in a big game.  He's brought us so close we feel like a family. 

But there's something that will always stand out when someone mentions Coach F to me. I'll never forget what he told me at practice, "You could be one of the most talented kids I've coached if you could lock and play like I just saw you play on that last drive," he said to me with a passion in his eyes.  It hit my like a meteor coming to earth.  Now obviously I didn't have super speed or the strength of the hulk.  I was just your average athlete and the fact that he thought of me so highly changed me. The next week, I had 3 catches one of which was a touchdown and I went running over to him where he gave me a engulfing hug (my first touchdown of the season). It's his words of encouragement and his desire to motivate athletes and students to grasp their full potential that makes him different than the rest. 

Every Friday in his class, we read books--of course I forgot mine the first day(or didn't even bother to bring one)--but that’s when coach had my back and handed me One Yard Short. It’s a  book about turning your defeats into victories through faith in God. Of course I thought I'd just go through the motions and read this book to pass the time because who actually READS for 40 whole minutes.  But before I knew it, I found myself so deeply connected to this book that I was actually looking forward to reading. It's taught me about leadership and hardships, but ultimately it grew my faith.

Mr. Feuerstahler is not only my educator of the year because he's impacted the lives of everyone around him, but also because he's changed my life and I don't think he knows how much he means to all of us.