New teacher juggles academics and athletics
As a new coach and school staff member
with multiple job titles, Kurt Paulson doesn’t spend much time
outside of District 38.
“It’s really busy. I’m literally here
all the time,” Paulson said.
Paulson, who recently earned a master’s
degree in education from the University of Montana, was hired at
the beginning of the summer to fill several open positions in the
Bigfork School District. In addition to coaching the varsity boys
basketball team, Paulson teaches two classes — middle school health
and high school weight lifting — and serves as the athletic
director at the middle school and the assistant athletic director
at the high school.
Although it is sometimes difficult for
Paulson to manage all of his responsibilities as a coach, teacher
and athletic director, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s tough a lot of the time — there’s
a lot of stuff to deal with,” Paulson said. “But at the end of the
day, it’s fun for me, and that’s what really matters.”
After enjoying a stellar athletic
career as a Whitefish Bulldog, Paulson graduated from high school
in 2001 and went on to play collegiate basketball at Carroll
College in Helena. He graduated in 2006 with degrees in business
and health.
Unsure of what career he wanted to
pursue, Paulson returned to his hometown and eventually got into
the insurance business.
“It (selling insurance) just wasn’t
me,” Paulson said. “I knew it wasn’t what I really wanted to
do.”
He ended up back at Carroll, where he
became an assistant basketball coach. To supplement his income,
Paulson started working as a substitute teacher. He was surprised
at how much he liked being in a classroom.
“Growing up, my dad and my coaches were
always saying I should become a coach or a teacher some day, but I
never really took them seriously,” he said. “But I loved it, and I
just knew I wanted to keep doing it.”
When he was offered a chance to take on
an open graduate assistant coaching position at the University of
Montana, Paulson jumped at the opportunity. Majoring in education,
he said, was a no-brainer.
Everything fell into place for Paulson
when he learned of the open coaching job at Bigfork.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do
or where I was going to go, and this just kind of fell in my lap,”
Paulson said.
Despite being a Bulldog, Paulson said
his transition to working in Bigfork has gone smoothly.
“I just kind of jumped right in,” he
said. “I had summer basketball tournaments and open gyms all
summer, so I got to know the kids and some of the staff members
really well. By the time school started, I had pretty much already
been working for three months.”
As both a teacher and a coach, Paulson
strives to connect with each student on an individual level.
“I’m really involved with the kids,”
Paulson said. “I like to see them in the halls and really get to
know them and use my experiences to help them.”
According to Paulson, that means he
must sometimes challenge his students and players to accomplish
things they might think are impossible.
“I really push them,” Paulson said.
“I’m not a push-over. I make them do things the right way. The kids
in this generation have so much technology that makes everything so
easy for them, so making them work hard for something is the main
thing I want to do as a coach and as a teacher.”
Paulson often draws from his own
experiences as a student as he forms his teaching and coaching
philosophy.
“I was really lucky. I had awesome
coaches that really made me work hard,” Paulson said. “That’s what
has gotten me to this point in my life, so I want to try to do that
with the kids that I have the opportunity to influence.”
Although he usually spends four or five
nights a week attending various middle school and high school
activities — often after putting in a full day’s work at the school
— Paulson said the students make it all worthwhile.
“No matter how bad the weather is or
how bad my day is, I come to school and the kids are just full of
energy, and I can’t help but be in a good mood,” he said.