Lowell High School is introducing a new staff member this year! Michelle English is doubling down as our new school nurse, and the girls wrestling teams head coach. Mrs. English is determined to give the student body a helping hand whether that is checking your temperature, helping you through a tough time mentally or giving young girls a chance to excel at a highly demanding sport. When we had come to Mrs. English informing her that we wanted to give her an interview for an article she was more than happy to answer any questions we may have! Here were the results.
My first question to Michelle was “How long have you been wrestling?” she responded with “About 10 years, I began my journey in the 3rd grade.” I followed up to this by asking if wrestling had always been a passion of hers. She gave me this, “Wrestling is such a mind game that I can not use the word always but, my best childhood memories would have to be in the wrestling room along with taking trips to compete for wrestling and I can confidently say that I am so grateful to be one of the people to help bring up girls wrestling.” I then decided to take a deeper dive with my questions by asking Coach English “Why did you decide to become a coach?” After a minute of thinking she gave me this response, “ I decided to become the GIRLS wrestling coach due to the fact that I believe that these young girls need a mentor coming from a female perspective… and from someone who understands such things.” After I asked Mrs. English these questions I wanted to ask her some things about the upcoming season. I began by asking her “What are three goals for this upcoming season?” One main goal that Mrs. English had was for herself and that was for her to be a more “confident coach.” Her second goal was to see each of the girls who participated in this season to have a return next season as well. Finally, her last goal was “At the very beginning of the season each girl had to email me one main goal for the season, so I hope by the end of the season they can all achieve that goal.” My last question to her that was based on her coaching was “Where do you want to see the girls by the end of the season?” Mrs. English had responded with this, “I want to see them more mentally prepared to meet adversity in their life with confidence, and I want them to be overall very proud of their achievements.”
I then asked Nurse English questions about her background and her career as a school nurse. Michelle had previously been a school nurse but is new to the position at the high school level. I started by simply asking her if she enjoys being a school nurse, she responded with, “ Yes, I really do. I enjoy getting to know all of the students and it also allows me to be on the same schedule as my own kids!” Then I took a deeper dive and asked her “Would you consider school nursing to be harder than working in a different medical field?” She then responded with, “ So… I will be honest, I did not expect this to be as difficult as it is. The job comes with A LOT of self reliance since I have no other co workers that are in the medical field. I also must be overly aware of what’s happening at all times because I am not given the same tools and resources as I am when working in a hospital or Etcetera. While everyone has their hardships, school nursing is a perfect balance for me.” My last question to Michelle was in my opinion a tough question. I asked her “Are you more passionate about your nursing or your coaching career?” She had responded with “I definitely have a big passion for both in different aspects, both allow me to achieve different things whether that is athletic, academic, medical or over all just life!”
Overall, this year Mrs. English hopes to help build up the female wrestling team, providing them with confidence, kindness, and overall growth as humans. She is also determined to provide a helping hand to LHS students whether they are struggling academically, physically or mentally.
