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After 34 years, Paul Stevens still has passion for seeing students succeed
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By Greg Schieber
Special to the Argus
Some know him as a track coach. Hundreds of others had him as a fourth grade teacher. A handful competed in cross country and gymnastics under his guidance and many more were mentored by him in reading and math while gaining confidence in their learning abilities.
In the 34 years Paul Stevens has worked in the Caledonia Area School District, the work he has done has been varied. But one thing remains constant; the passion he has for seeing young people succeed.
“Having their faces light up when they understand a concept, when they sound out words and can pronounce them, when they do well on a test and come back and proudly show me their papers,” Stevens listed as many of the highlights of teaching.
“Working with the kids, both in the classroom and coaching, is what I will miss the most,” he explained of his upcoming retirement.
For most of those 34 years he taught fourth grade alongside Carolyn Medin and Nancy Mullins. More recently, he has been in Title One, a program developed to help with remedial math and reading. In addition, he coached track and field for 31 years, girls gymnastics, and cross country, a program he started but was cut years ago.
“I always felt that I wanted to be remembered as a teacher and not as a coach. Coaching was just something that fell into my lap. Teaching has always been number one,” explained Stevens.
A teacher
“Paul was a very good fourth grade teacher but he truly found his niche in life when he was reassigned to Title One,” commented Elementary School Principal Connie Hesse. “He loves Title One. He felt students were struggling with math and reading and he has made a difference in those kids’ lives.”
“There are a lot more challenges with the kids today in getting them to concentrate and getting them to value what they are learning,” Stevens described of the changes he’s seen amongst students. “In the Title One program we’re promoting good self esteem and not getting down on yourself. That’s what I like about Title One. We are always promoting the successes. Sometimes students do that, they give up on themselves and we’re trying to promote ‘I think you can do this’.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of the job for Stevens is seeing past students enter the teaching field or completing college and coming back to the area. Trina Scanlan is one example. Currently a middle school teacher, she was in Paul’s first class 34 years ago. She also happens to be the person who will fill his shoes in the Title One program next year.
Stevens was inspired to become a teacher at a young age. “I had four nephews growing up and just playing around with them and getting to know them I thought it would be a good idea,” he said. He began taking general classes at a junior college and after a little bit of prodding from his wife, Dianne, decided a degree in education was his goal.
He has spent his entire career working in the Caledonia Area School District, taking the job right out of college before he ever visited the area. He grew up in Two Harbors along Minnesota’s north shore and attended Bemidji State University. “The first week of school was over 100 degrees and I thought we had moved to Florida,” Stevens remembered of the transition.
A coach
After his first year of teaching he became the track and field coach for both boys and girls. Ten years ago Carl Fruechte took over coaching the boys and Stevens has continued to coach the girls. Worth noting is the fact that Stevens was Carl’s high school track coach.
Early on Stevens started a cross country program. “We were section champions one year,” he remembered. “Rochester Lourdes dominated cross country. We had six seniors one year and they had run a lot during the summer so we were able to beat them.”
Most recently he has gotten involved in gymnastics. He began volunteering to help spot for athletes when his daughters were involved. Later, when Shelly Jeliek retired, he volunteered to take the head coaching job to keep some continuity in the program.
His 31 years of coaching has spanned many changes. Most notable is the number of student athletes that also have jobs which compete for their attention. Back when he started Stevens said students “didn’t feel they had to earn money to pay for things a lot of kids want today. Almost everybody has a job now. We were pulling them off farm duties and chores years ago, occasionally, but that was basically it.”
Even years ago however, Stevens had to work pretty hard to keep some athletes on his cross country and track rosters for reasons other than work conflicts. Most notable were the Bruenings. “You can have them but you have to find a way to get them home,” was how Stevens remembers their parents agreeing to their participation. Often times he would meet their father halfway or drive them all the way home after a meet. “I had a little Toyota Corolla and we loaded five kids in the car,” Stevens laughed and admitted he never minded giving rides home.
Taking athletes to the state tournament was always a highlight during his 31 years coaching. Nineteen track and gymnastics athletes participated in the state meets under his tenure, many more than once. Despite those successes he never emphasized first place. Instead he encouraged athletes to focus on setting personal records and in the end simply doing their best.
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