His motivation guides his students

Coach Powell has been working at Armijo High School for about nine years, teaching Physical Education (PE). He has also coached both baseball and football and currently serves as the Athletic Director (AD). Before coming to Armijo, he also worked as a police officer and owned a CrossFit gym.

He became a teacher for one main reason: “To help guide young students to become leaders and successful members of society.” He graduated from Rodriguez High School before going to Solano Community College, where he earned his Associate of Arts (AA) degree. Then he went on to Sacramento State to earn his Bachelor’s degree. He got his Master’s degree at the University of Phoenix and went on to get his administrative credential through San Diego State. He plans on moving forward in his career and eventually becoming a full-time assistant principal, and he hopes he can do that at Armijo. His dream for the campus is to eventually see a new sports complex on the site.

He said that the hardest part about teaching is bringing the same positive energy every day. He left his previous position teaching at a K-8 school because he just preferred to teach high schoolers. If he gave up teaching, he said that he would probably be interested in being a sportscaster, preferably for the San Francisco Giants.

He’s actually a big fan of the Giants, but also enjoys watching the Niners and the Warriors play, along with watching college sports.

As a PE teacher and coach, things can be challenging, but he also understands how it is difficult to be a student. He said that the greatest challenge facing students today is social media, with students spending their free time on social media 24/7.

That distraction can have an impact on grades, so if students are having a hard time participating in PE, he tries to have a 1-on-1 talk about what they like to do, but sometimes he finds it necessary to contact parents and have them have that discussion with their child.

His conversation with students is not limited to sports or athletics, though. He has some advice that he tries to share with everyone. “You will always have the choice between what is right and what is easy. Choose what’s right,” he said.