Staff Changes Benefit the School
Two new faculty members became Indians. Scott “Hoagie” Carmichael came back from retirement to teach junior high history. Nick Fawcett joined the Indians as the new health and plyometrics teacher.
Hoagie worked for St. Francis Community High School for 31 years including seven as a principal. While he was the chief, he held the position of wrestling athletic director for 17 years, wrestling coach for 18, and high school head football coach for many years.
“Mr. Carmichael is most definitely an asset to our school! He not only has more than three decades of experience in working with kids in all types of situations and settings, but he has administrative experience, which means he can see every situation that arises from two perspectives: from that of a teacher, and from that as a former principal,” said, Principal Dave Morrow.
Carmichael maintains a busy schedule by not only serving as the junior high history teacher, but also as a high school football assistant coach and the high school wrestling athletic director.
He said he enjoys his time back.
“I am pleased to be back and working with SFCHS again, it has been really cool,” said Carmichael. “I think of all of the kids in the school as my own kids.”
Even though Carmichael was an administrator for seven years, he said he enjoys just being a teacher now.
“I like to be an Indian and not the chief,” said Carmichael. Morrow said “Carmichael embodies the term ‘company man’.”
Morrow said he has known Carmichael since he was in junior high in 1987.
”What people who know Hoagie have come to realize is that he is one of the most warm-hearted people on the planet,” Morrow said. “He will do whatever is asked of him to the best of his ability and encourage those around him to give their best as well. Being the Indian and not the chief means he is content to fulfill his responsibilities as an employee but does not need to be in charge or have authority to do his job.”
SFCHS not only brings old knowledge back, but adds new knowledge to become bigger, better, and stronger as a team.
“Our school and community is blessed to have a guy like Coach Fawcett in it,” Carmichael said. “I believe over the past few years the meaning of family and team has been lost. I do believe this year we have found the true meaning of family and team.”
Not many first year head coaches can say they made it all the way to sub-state, but Nick Fawcett, head football coach, is one of those few.
“Our team always heard how ‘surprised’ everyone on the outside was at the success we had in the win/loss column, but the people within our locker room weren't surprised,” Fawcett said. “My coaches and I always preached if we took care of the small things, such as having a strong work ethic, relentless effort, being a good teammate, doing your job, and believing in yourself and teammates, the wins and losses would take care of themselves. It was exciting that we achieved so much so fast, but in reality we were just laying the foundation for the culture and type of team that we wanted to be in the future.”
As well as not many other schools can say they have turf in their weight room. Fawcett put together a bid to install turf in the weight room and installed it.
“I am extremely passionate about what I do for a living and developing quality young adults in the weight room and on the field,” Fawcett said. “I believe that these places can teach invaluable life lessons to young people that they can't learn elsewhere and in turn help them to become positive, contributing influences on our society once they leave St. Francis High.”
Moving from the “big” city of Hays to “small” town of St. Francis that can be a real struggle for some as arguably there could be less activities to keep a person busy, but not for Nick Fawcett. Fawcett moved to St. Francis at the end of May in 2018 and was determined to get straight to work with the kids. He had kids in the weight room every morning starting in June.
Fawcett bought a house in St. Francis and invested a lot of time into the strength and conditioning of the students within the school.
“The people and community of St. Francis have been very kind and accommodating ever since I moved here. I have met many great people since I got here and several have helped me move into my new home and helped me get situated along the way. I enjoy the laid back atmosphere and small-town values that the community possesses. That fitting in with my personality has made the move and transition to St. Francis seem effortless,” said Fawcett.
Fawcett said he is looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish in the weight room the rest of the year and over the summer.
“It has been fun to see how far all of my students have come in the weight room in just the short period of time that I have had to work with them,” Fawcett said. “We had a lot of learning to do at first and getting the work ethic and culture to where we wanted it and now that we are starting to get the culture and putting in the work on a consistent basis, everyone seems to be starting to see the benefits and gains in the strength/power/explosiveness that can be made and how they can help us on the field of play.”
