Patience, perseverance, and dedication are qualities that John Bennett has learned to employ to his life and jobs as a paraeducator and coach at Shorewood. In his first year working at Shorewood, Bennett has become a beloved member of our staff and community.
From basketball to football to track and field, Bennett has coached a variety of sports. At Shorewood, he is the head coach for girls JV basketball. Bennett hopes to expand into even more sports, such as volleyball, as a coach. Bennett is “always open to learning a new sport or strategies in those sports.”
Sports have always been a big part of Bennett’s life. As a child, he would “watch ESPN early in the morning before school everyday just to get the most recent updates on the sports world.” Doing this “really helped me fall in love with sports,” Bennett says.
Sports quickly became integrated into Bennett’s daily life. Basketball in particular stood out as one of Bennett’s favorite sports and has been significant throughout Bennett’s life. Bennett says, “Basketball is a sport I fell in love with and is a sport that helped me through rough times in my life.” It became an outlet and a way for Bennett to relieve stress. “Being able to pick up a ball and go shoot around or play games with others helped me get to a calm state when things weren’t going well in life,” says Bennett.
Being involved in sports guided Bennett throughout his life as he applied the lessons he learned from various sports to his daily life. Bennett says, “Sports were huge into my life. Sports helped me understand that staying active is a big part in life and many life lessons can be taken away from sports such as teamwork, perseverance and dedication.” Bennett used these lessons learned from sports in his childhood to guide him through his experience as a coach.
It’s no surprise that Bennett soon got involved in working with kids and sports at a young age. Bennett started working at the Boys & Girls Club at 16 and says his experience working there “really opened my world up into working with kids and helping them grow.” At the Boys & Girls Club, Bennett worked with kids in sports and other activities throughout the day. This inspired Bennett regarding his plans for the future. “It was a great experience to see what I want to achieve when I start my career,” Bennett says.
Bennett first got involved with coaching at the age of 18, he “started with kindergarteners at Boys & Girls Club and have been loving it and continuing it.” It was there that he discovered his love of coaching.
As a coach, Bennett values the time he spends with the athletes. He enjoys getting to know the team and those who have had him as a coach agree that he had a positive impact on their team. Ashley Anderson, freshman, had Bennett as an assistant basketball coach at Einstein. She enjoyed having him as a coach, saying that he “was always motivating and cheering us on.” Although she no longer has him as a coach, Anderson has enjoyed getting to see Bennett in the halls of Shorewood.
There are numerous things to love about being a coach, but for Bennett there is one thing that stands out more than the rest, which is watching those on the team develop as athletes. Bennett says, “Best thing about coaching is watching the athletes develop and become better people through the sport, having fun conversation with the athletes and just making the whole experience fun is a major part.”
While Bennett loves his job as a coach, it doesn’t come without its challenges. Bennett says, “The challenging part of the job is to let the athletes know that you’re not going to be good or great at the sport right away, it takes time to learn the skill of the sport and develop to get better at the sport.” As a coach, Bennett helps push athletes out of their comfort zone to improve their skills.
There are lessons that can be taken from sports that can be applied to success in other aspects of life. Bennett says that, “Being able to push through the hard times in the sport is difficult but will make you a stronger person in life or the sport.” This is an important lesson that Bennett hopes to help his athletes learn during his time as their coach.
Bennett sees a connection between coaching and being a paraeducator, as both jobs require a lot of patience. Bennett says, “Being a para takes a great amount of patience to be able to go with the flow and just accept that whatever happens in the day is going to happen and control what you can control.” Bennett sees a connection between coaching and being a paraeducator, as both jobs require a lot of patience.
Bennett didn’t go directly from coaching at the Boys & Girls Club to being a paraeducator. He worked at Fred Meyers, a fishery supplier, and T-Mobile before finding himself at the Shoreline School District.
This is Bennett’s first year as a paraeducator at Shorewood, but he has been working in the district for the past seven years. He worked at Kellog, Einstein, and Shorecrest before coming to Shorewood. So far, Bennett has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Shorewood, saying that, “everyone has been amazing and have felt like this is a second home to me. I really enjoy working here and enjoy everyone I interact with.”
To anyone considering coaching, Bennett would strongly recommend it. “Coaching is just such an experience for anyone, my advice to any person is to try coaching out and if it’s not for you then you know but you may find out that you really like it like I did,” Bennett says.
