According to Coach Grant Teaff, “The best teachers coach their students, and the best coaches are great teachers.”
Teaff should know, since he is a College Hall of Fame Coach who spent most of his career at Baylor University racking up some great wins and impressive stats. Probably none of those numbers were more impressive to Teaff than his 10 wins against rival University of Texas while coaching the Baylor Bears.
For example, Teaff truly taught his athletes to have a winning mindset. And I think I love this quote so much because my entire life has been spent surrounded by Mississippi coaches and teachers who changed my mindset about so many things in life.
Yep! Those Mississippi coaches and teachers are my heroes. They always have been and always will be.
But the truth is, I would be hard-pressed to pick just one of those old coaches or teachers from my years in school to write about today.
So instead, I want to write about my current favorite group of Mississippi teachers and coaches – the ones at East Union Attendance Center. All of them.
The brown-and-gold-clad East Union Urchins have a schoolwide motto. Actually, it’s more of a creed than a motto. It’s a high bar that East Union students and athletes set for themselves, a lifelong, never-ending, ever-increasing goal.
It probably sounds simple and almost cliché to outsiders, but it’s a code by which all Urchins live: The #GoldStandard of excellence.
When the kids first started using this hashtag, it was more of a fun and novel approach to school. But it soon took on a life of its own – one that changed the collective mindset of the entire school.
And the main reason for that schoolwide shift in mindset was the fact that all the principals, teachers, staff members, and coaches bought into this #GoldStandard as well.
Everyone was on the same page, and the words on that page were simple: Let’s always strive to do our best in whatever we do, be it academics, behavior, or athletics.
In essence, teachers coached, and coaches taught – by example. And then, students learned by example, and the process began repeating itself. Students coached and taught their peers and younger students – by example. In turn, those students learned and passed on their knowledge.
The change was gradual but continued as the #GoldStandard became a living, breathing part of East Union Attendance Center.
Are these kids perfect? No. Neither are their teachers and coaches. But they have learned to move past their failures and shortcomings by expecting more of themselves. More kindness. More respect. More hard work. More determination. More of their beloved #GoldStandard.
And somewhere along the way, this old, retired teacher-turned-grandmother has learned something that Teaff knew all along: “The best teachers coach their students, and the best coaches are great teachers.” Even when those teachers and coaches are just kids.
