Cynthia Ziegler has been working at Chaparral High School for 17  years now. But what made her want to become a PE coach?

¨In 5th or 6th grade I had the same man [teacher] in elementary school PE. He treated all the girls really crappy and he treated all the boys great because he thought they were so much better athletes. Just always made the girls feel bad, feel like they were not worthy,” explained Ziegler. “I just wanted girls to be empowered, and believe anything the boys can do they could do.¨

Ziegler takes a lot of time and effort into making her athletes great. Dedicated 17 years to her students is no easy task. Students have definitely changed over the years

¨I just think times have changed. Covid took a toll on the students.  A lot of them are now more complacent,” said Ziegler. “They are used to being lying in their beds doing work and I think it’s been a hard habit for them to get out of,  so that’s been difficult.

She mentioned that with the new administration team at Chaparral, that teachers get more support with trying to have hold kids accountable. “I think it’s going to get better, and I have high hopes for our students.¨

As far as the pro’s and con’s of working at Chaparral, Ziegler responded, ¨Pro’s I feel like I matter here.¨

She also explained, ¨I don’t really think its a con for me.  I think for our students that they bring a lot of baggage to school, and they have a lot going on at home.”

“It’s not their fault,” she added. “But they sometimes take it out on staff and that makes it hard. So I don’t know if it’s a con for  everybody, or it’s a con just for the kids.”
  Ziegler has worked with many different personalities and attitudes over her 17 years of teaching. Dealing with rude or angry students is just part of the job, she doesn’t let it get to her and does her best to work with all of her students. As many of our teachers and coaches here, her main goal is to guide students to being successful.