The new head coach of the Wildcats is...

Tim: Well, it is official. I recently accepted a offer for a coaching and teaching job at a public charter high school in the Denver metro area. The school is called The Academy (www.acsk12.org) and it is located in Westminster, a northwest suburb of Denver.

I will be a high school physical education teacher, head coach of the varsity cross country teams and the boys' basketball team. The school is a Class 3A school (5 classes in CHSAA) and is only eight years old. They just built a brand new $15 million school building with two gyms and just joined a new league. In its short existence, the school has already won a state title in Colorado in baseball and the football team was 6-3 last year.

I will begin my duties at The Academy on August 15th and Candy and I still need to find a place to live and move our things from Ohio, so it looks like more driving for us (the trip from Hiram to Denver is roughly 1600 miles).

The ironic twist to it is that I accepted the position four months from the day that we left Hiram, Ohio. I guess you could say we have been "studying abroad" for the last semester. It has been an educational adventure. We have driven over 17,000 miles (and counting) in the Element.

Over the last four months and the journey we have made, Candy and I are really at peace with this decision. I am excited about what lies ahead for us both. The Denver area is considered one of the most livable cities in the US with a lot of opportunities for Candy. In addition, the school is growing and, I believe, will provide the support for me to be successful in my role.

We are currently living in Albany, a small town outside St. Cloud, Minnesota. St. Cloud is about an hour and fifteen minutes northwest of the Twin Cities. I do not know about how the temperatures are where you live, but it is very hot here. In Minnesota, it seems no one has air conditioning in their homes. We are living in a home without air conditioning, as well, and are making more trips to the mall and bookstore lately just to stay cool. They have not received much rain in the past few months so the grass is dying here.

It was 99 degrees for a high yesterday and they expect the same for the next four days. In Pueblo, it would get up into the the low 100's during our stay, but it never felt that hot. It is so humid here and that really makes it uncomfortable.

We have been blessed the past four months to see some amazing things and will never forget this time in our life. If someone asked four months ago if I would be interested in a high school job, I would have said no instantly. I guess the time out on the road has given me a new perspective on what life should be all about. I have even started to do a daily diary since my birthday. I want to keep a record of my life from this point forward because I know it is going to be a fulfilled life from now on.

With this position, I have to go back to school to get my Colorado teacher's license. I should have known that I would not be finished with my formal education after the doctorate...maybe next I can go to school and become a vet or something else! The crazy thing is I am actually looking forward to taking classes this year. I only have to take classes on Monday nights this year and next year will be all in the classroom. The program is called the Teacher in Residence program and helps the schools with the teacher shortage in Colorado.

Just wanted to give an update on the latest. We both apologize for not posting in a while. If anything exciting happens, we will post about it (we still have a long move from Ohio, so I am sure we will see something else to write about). Have a great weekend!