History teacher by day, soccer coach by night
By Deandrey Alexandre, Staff Writer
January 23, 2024
Rebecca Newman is a beloved history teacher, who ensures that every student is receiving the best education possible.
Newman knew immediately from her freshman year in high school that she wanted to be a teacher. But not any teacher, specifically a history teacher.
“I loved school, I know for everyone it’s not always something that they love. But I loved every single grade. Especially when I got to high school, I really enjoyed it and then growing up I always wanted to be a teacher. But when I got to high school, I had such great teachers that I knew it would be a great career path for me,” she said.
Newman then showed her love and interest for sports, and how it affected her high school experience.
“From a very young age I participated in a lot of different sports with soccer, and basketball. But soccer was definitely my primary sport. During my 9th grade year, I went through a hard time. I tore my ACL playing soccer, but I always loved sports, always loved staying active, always loved working with my team, and always loved working towards a goal. I was able to recover then play throughout my following years at high school,” said Newman.
While many current student-athletes struggle with figuring out how to balance their athletic lives with their academic lives, Newman had her own way of dealing with things.
“Sport teaches a lot of good skills like teamwork, collaboration, and anything goal-setting in general-- which you can also use in school, ” said Newman.
Even after her high school sports career, Newman continued to play soccer, but in a different position. That of coach.
“I was fortunate enough in my first year of teaching that I coached soccer for 7 years! So not only was I able to teach in a classroom, I was able to teach as a coach as well which I really enjoyed, ” said Newman.