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New teacher juggles academics and athletics

by Brooke Andrus
| November 16, 2011 4:27 PM

 

As a new coach and school staff member

with multiple job titles, Kurt Paulson doesn’t spend much time

outside of District 38.

“It’s really busy. I’m literally here

all the time,” Paulson said.

Paulson, who recently earned a master’s

degree in education from the University of Montana, was hired at

the beginning of the summer to fill several open positions in the

Bigfork School District. In addition to coaching the varsity boys

basketball team, Paulson teaches two classes — middle school health

and high school weight lifting — and serves as the athletic

director at the middle school and the assistant athletic director

at the high school.

Although it is sometimes difficult for

Paulson to manage all of his responsibilities as a coach, teacher

and athletic director, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s tough a lot of the time — there’s

a lot of stuff to deal with,” Paulson said. “But at the end of the

day, it’s fun for me, and that’s what really matters.”

After enjoying a stellar athletic

career as a Whitefish Bulldog, Paulson graduated from high school

in 2001 and went on to play collegiate basketball at Carroll

College in Helena. He graduated in 2006 with degrees in business

and health.

Unsure of what career he wanted to

pursue, Paulson returned to his hometown and eventually got into

the insurance business.

“It (selling insurance) just wasn’t

me,” Paulson said. “I knew it wasn’t what I really wanted to

do.”

He ended up back at Carroll, where he

became an assistant basketball coach. To supplement his income,

Paulson started working as a substitute teacher. He was surprised

at how much he liked being in a classroom.

“Growing up, my dad and my coaches were

always saying I should become a coach or a teacher some day, but I

never really took them seriously,” he said. “But I loved it, and I

just knew I wanted to keep doing it.”

When he was offered a chance to take on

an open graduate assistant coaching position at the University of

Montana, Paulson jumped at the opportunity. Majoring in education,

he said, was a no-brainer.

Everything fell into place for Paulson

when he learned of the open coaching job at Bigfork.

“I didn’t know what I was going to do

or where I was going to go, and this just kind of fell in my lap,”

Paulson said.

Despite being a Bulldog, Paulson said

his transition to working in Bigfork has gone smoothly.

“I just kind of jumped right in,” he

said. “I had summer basketball tournaments and open gyms all

summer, so I got to know the kids and some of the staff members

really well. By the time school started, I had pretty much already

been working for three months.”

As both a teacher and a coach, Paulson

strives to connect with each student on an individual level.

“I’m really involved with the kids,”

Paulson said. “I like to see them in the halls and really get to

know them and use my experiences to help them.”

According to Paulson, that means he

must sometimes challenge his students and players to accomplish

things they might think are impossible.

“I really push them,” Paulson said.

“I’m not a push-over. I make them do things the right way. The kids

in this generation have so much technology that makes everything so

easy for them, so making them work hard for something is the main

thing I want to do as a coach and as a teacher.”

Paulson often draws from his own

experiences as a student as he forms his teaching and coaching

philosophy.

“I was really lucky. I had awesome

coaches that really made me work hard,” Paulson said. “That’s what

has gotten me to this point in my life, so I want to try to do that

with the kids that I have the opportunity to influence.”

Although he usually spends four or five

nights a week attending various middle school and high school

activities — often after putting in a full day’s work at the school

— Paulson said the students make it all worthwhile.

“No matter how bad the weather is or

how bad my day is, I come to school and the kids are just full of

energy, and I can’t help but be in a good mood,” he said.