Sean Voorhies is a proud member of the staff at Lakeview High School. He has been teaching history for 23 years and counting. His classroom is often bubbling with chatter rather than sitting quiet and still, allowing students to learn in a way that is interesting and different. Voorhies has also been a prestigious cross country and track coach for 20 years. He has trained many teams and individuals that have won county and conference titles, as well as countless regional and state qualifiers. Voorhies adapts his style of coaching whenever necessary and has a drive to always better himself as a coach constantly taking time out of his personal life in order to find new ways to improve his runners.
Voorhies provided some insight on how he became a teacher/coach explaining, “History textbooks in the 1990s were mind numbingly boring and I wanted to change how it was presented. I ran cross country and track in college for Youngstown State and when a job came open at Newton Falls, a professor recommended me for the job. They called me and offered me a history and psychology / sociology job for high school and said, can you coach track? I said if it means I’m hired, I will coach checkers club if I have to.”
Coaching and teaching can be extremely stressful jobs and they are certainly not careers that everyone can handle. The let down a person feels when their team or students fail is a lot and it can be hard to bounce back from a loss. Voorhies provided some of the challenging parts that come with these careers and how he handles them.
He stated, “[I am] constantly trying to figure out how to change how I teach material to younger kids as the years go by, as well as trying to figure out how to make kids faster. I’m constantly reading and tinkering with different ideas to reconnect with younger students and athletes.”
Despite coaching being a difficult job it still has its rewarding moments. Voorhies shared some of his favorite parts about being a coach.
He revealed, “[I love] watching a kid pump their fist in the air after they run a personal record. Also, grinding away on a long run with the team on a trail somewhere in the middle of the summer. Though as I age it’s getting harder to do.”
As successful as his career has been, Voorhies still had some specific goals he felt he needed to accomplish before the end of his career. He shared some of these goals and added why they are his most memorable successes.
Voorhies provided, “Getting a relay to the state finals and winning a team county title in cross country this year. Every track coach measures their worth by two questions. Did you ever win a county title? Did you ever make a state championship? Plenty of great coaches never get both, but I felt I just HAD to.”
Coaching is a job that requires a lot of change and shift in strategy. There is no doubt that as time goes on in order to be successful you have to evolve your style of coaching and try new things, as well as do away with outdated methods.
Voorhies added, “The biggest change I’ve made is that I no longer think yelling in a kids face makes them faster. Screaming is fine, but it doesn’t teach anything. Kids need taught strategies, not belittled. Lastly, I focus now on teaching athletes how to focus on the process, not the outcome. Outcomes just add stress. You’re focused on what might NOT happen, instead of what you need to be doing.”
Coach Voorhies is an excellent teacher and coach and will continue to be until he retires. Currently he is working on getting his cross country team to the state meet this November. Wish him and his team good luck in completing their goals for the end of this season!
