His alarm blares every morning at 6 a.m., preparing him for a morning at the pool. His day is usually full of PowerPoints and the constant mumble of students’ voices, trying not to get caught talking. An evening filled with whistles being blown on the track surrounded with runners, with an unbearably cold wind, which is all so tiring, but he does it all for his students.

Michael Myers, commonly known as the man in the hallway who waves at every student and greets them each individually, is a coach and teacher at Fredericksburg High School.

“Developing relationships with my students and watching them grow and succeed and go out and be so successful in life is what I enjoy,” Myers said. “Being able to share their joys and celebrate their achievements with them is what makes me happiest.”

Although Coach Myers greatly enjoys coaching in addition to teaching, it can come with many struggles.

“The biggest struggle is just balancing time devoted to coaching duties and administration of coaching with my time that I should spend working on class work,” Myers said.

Despite the struggles in managing time between the two, Myers enjoys coaching track and swim immensely. Coaching both sports seems to be very rewarding and worthwhile.

“I enjoy that track is in the afternoon so that it is easier to transition into, but swim is harder in the morning. Coaching swim is rewarding because the kids have to get up early and put a lot of effort into it,” Myers said. “It’s a long season, so it is gratifying to see their success after putting in so many hard hours.”

Myers did not always want to be a teacher. He grew up not knowing what he wanted to major in, but his love for coaching led him to become a teacher of 27 years.

“In college I started coaching baseball during the summers, and I enjoyed that, so I started substitute teaching to make a little extra money,” Myers said. “I just enjoyed working with the kids, and I thought that would be a great way to spend my life in a career.”

Although being a coach and a teacher takes up a lot of Myers’ time, he does not spend every minute focusing on his job. He pursues a few hobbies in his free time.

“I like to read a lot, and I read the adventure, travel type books because I don’t have a lot of time to travel; I dream of places that I want to travel in the world,” Myers said. “I also like to run, bike, kayak, hunt and spend time outdoors. I also enjoy time spent with my family.”

Myers recommends the teaching field to anyone who enjoys spending time with children.

“I would say test the water a little bit,” Myers said. “You’ll know if that’s the way you want to spend your life. If you love it and you like working with kids, then you’ll know.”