Mr. Ryan Bales is the new basketball coach at Plymouth High School. Photo by: Anayeli Miranda
By Anayeli Miranda
There is a mysterious person behind the mask of a teacher. Discovering the person was hard, but it was accomplished. Most students only see teachers as instructors, and rarely get to know the person behind the teacher. So now it is time to reveal what is behind the mask. Ryan Bales is a credit recovery teacher and head coach of the boys basketball team, and he is new this year to the staff.
“I felt like the city of Plymouth was a great place to raise a family and the Plymouth Cooperation is a great school corporation to be in. My wife and I felt like our three boys would have wonderful experiences here.” This is what attracted Mr. Bales to come teach at Plymouth High School. This year he and his wife Kristen took Nolan who is seven, Mason who is five, and Cameron who is just 10 months to the Blueberry Festival “which was awesome for them.”
Mr. Bales teaches four credit recovery classes, and he mostly assists the students in what they need in order to earn their credits. In the middle of the day he has a prep-hour which is when he typically prepares something for basketball later on.”When the school day is over, I will stick around for basketball practice or conditioning for a while before heading home.” This is one typical day of Mr. Bales.
“I have always respected the Plymouth players and how they have played the game- win or lose they typically play with class.” So he sees it as a interesting challenge to continue the traditional strong basketball team, and make the program even bigger.When he was in middle school, he had a dream he wanted to coach basketball at IU. However, he realized that he would have had to travel a lot for this job, and being away from home for him was difficult. He enjoys spending time with his family outside of school, and playing with his three boys.
“The one thing I did not like about this school is the colors (just kidding). I have had to change my entire wardrobe because I am coming from a school of royal blue and gold. I am starting to get some Plymouth Pilgrims coaching gear. I no longer wake up wondering what am going to wear (just kidding about all of this by the way)! Actually, I grew up a Hoosiers fan so Red and White are great colors,” he stated when asked what he did not like about the school. All in all however, he states that “If I could do anything in the world, I would coach.”A passionate coach that loves his family is what was discovered behind the teacher “mask.”