Around State High, many teachers and coaches are making a positive impact on students’ lives. However, some go past that and build lasting relationships with their students. One of those teachers is 9th grade history teacher Alex Kimbro. Being both a history teacher and an assistant coach for the State High Boys Soccer team, he’s made a huge impact on hundreds of students’ lives. 

“[Mr. Kimbro] is definitely more than just a teacher to me, personally,” junior Lucien Miller said, “He enjoys hearing about my life outside of school, which is pretty cool. He’s definitely one of my favorite teachers.”

Many students around State High have enjoyed building connections with Kimbro and he enjoys doing so as well.

“My favorite part of teaching is probably getting to build relationships with the kids, and see the growth from the start of the year to the end of the year,” Kimbro said. “Just kinda help people with social studies but also have a really good experience here at the high school, and hopefully learn a couple of things along the way.”

Kimbro also added how coaching and teaching relate to one another and how he enjoys doing both.

“I think [coaching] helps because you get different perspectives on how to help students and players grow and manage themselves. Being a student athlete is really tough, so you get to help with a lot of time management skills,” he explained. “The parallels are there because you are still helping people to not only learn the sport, or learn the content, but you’re also helping build connections with people across grade levels. And you’re also getting a different perspective of seeing all grade levels, rather than just teaching one.”

During boys soccer’s 2023 teacher appreciation night, senior manager Percephany Devier-Pondexter honored Kimbro as her teacher of choice. During the ceremony, Kimbro and Devier-Poindexter laughed and smiled before sharing an embrace at midfield.

Kimbro remembered one game in particular that was one of his favorites.

“We were complete underdogs against Cumberland Valley, and when we won, the locker room at Cumberland Valley’s high school was just absolutely rocking with energy, “ Kimbro said.  “It was just one of those where it felt like everybody, completely just on the same page of just pure joy and happiness in the locker room.”

Those are the types of moments that keep his joy for soccer alive, he explained. His passion for helping his students on and off the field has made a huge impact on students’ high school careers. 

As an assistant coach, he will be entering his ninth season and will be looking forward to meeting new players and students. Incoming freshmen who have him will appreciate him as much as many students before them do.