As summer begins and students start to search for any type of jobs to get a little cash, a select few decide to find a job not only allowing them to hang out by the pool all day but teaches them life skills.

 “I have always loved the idea to work in the water and being a lifeguard not only allows me to be by a pool the whole time but to learn techniques, like CPR, that will be with me my whole life,” senior Hannah Sandle said.

Many CHS seniors like Kelly Winkle, Vinny Munia, Ben Coggins, Teddy Johnson and Sandle have decided to become lifeguards. This will all be there first year to be lifeguards besides Sandle whom it will be her second. Unlike other jobs, becoming a lifeguard is much more difficult road.  

“This job is definitely not a relaxing job,” Coggins said. “It forces you to be aware of your surroundings and puts the lives of others in your hands.”

In order to become a lifeguard, some of the necessities is the people interested must be in good, healthy shape and strong swimmers. Then, each person must log in 32 hours of classroom time and practice at the pool.

 The Coppell Aquatic Center is one of the many places students can be certified to become a lifeguard. All these seniors went here for their training.

“The training seemed to never end but it is all needed,” Johnson said. “It teaches you what you need to do in order to be ready to take on the responsibility.”

After finishing the course and practice time, the trainees must pass several tests. For example, some must do written tests about the techniques, retrieving weights from the bottom of the pool, performing CPR on dummies and, finally, must “rescue” a person who pretends to be in need of help.

“While this training is allowing us to have a job this summer, it will be able to go with us for many more summers to come and in need of a job,” Munia said.

All of the seniors have just finished their training just in time for the summer season to begin. A few will be working at the Aquatic Center or the YMCA while others will take their training to be lifeguards at summer camps around Texas.  

“Being a certified lifeguard will allow me not just to work at the YMCA but also at Camp Longhorn for three weeks this summer,” Winkle said.

Being a lifeguard will put much pressure into their lives. While at work, they must be aware at all times how many are in the pool and what they are all doing. They are responsible for all the lives in the pool, no matter what age, and if anything happen under their watch.

“It’s puts a lot of pressure on you but someone needs to do the job in order to protect people for drowning,” Sandle said.

All the seniors plan on lifeguarding for this summer and probably a couple more after this year.

With the size of Coppell High School’s student population, this only allows most students to do well in just one sport. However, there are always a handful of students that can shine in a couple of sports each year, but only a very few that can shine enough to get college scholarship offers in more than one.

 Senior Teddy Johnson, mainly known for his incredible football talent, which earned him a spot on the Oklahoma State University football team, also picked up a new sport this year and performed very well.

Usually, athletes work hard for four years to reach state, with one exception. This year, Johnson joined a sport he had never competed in before his senior year and medaled at the state competition six weeks later.

“Wrestling was a completely new experience for me and even though it was for a short time, it was very interesting,” Johnson said. 

Senior Teddy Johnson shows off his gold medal. Photo by Katie Quill

Johnson is best known for his incredible tackles as one of Coppell’s top inside linebackers and made first team all-district this 2009 season. No one ever wanted to be Johnson’s victim on the field.

 After the football season ended, all senior players were obliged to sign up for another class for the spring semester unless they wanted to participate in the offseason program with the returning players. So, as Johnson thought about what to do, fellow senior, friend and wrestler Hampton Roese convinced him to sign up for wrestling.

 “Due to unfortunate events that lead to an opening in the 215 weight class, Roese said. “I knew teddy and how strong and athletic he was so I challenged him to try the hardest sport CHS has to offer and see how he does. As it turned out, he was pretty good and I’m proud of him to accomplish what he did with what little time he had.”

Although Johnson did not know a thing about wrestling, he accepted Roese’s challenge and wrestling coach Chip Lowery believed Johnson had the potential to do well in wrestling with his physical attributes.

“When Teddy came up to me, I put him on the team just to see how he would do,” Lowery said. “Needless to say, he exceeded our expectations.”

 For the next six weeks, Johnson trained hard with the CHS team and at many competitions, did very well for a beginner. Johnson was the definite “Cinderella” in most tournaments, proving himself a threat by placing in the top three.

“At every tournament, I was always considered the underdog and that just made me strive harder to win and do well,” Johnson said.

Johnson got first place in the district competition and third place in the regional competition in the 215 weight class. After doing so well in both competitions, Johnson was ready for state.

“After this great season, I wished I started wrestling earlier in high school, but I’m still glad that I at least got to experience it once,” Johnson said.

At state, Johnson advanced to the semifinals, where he lost to Cody Davis from The Woodlands, who went on to win the state championship.

After the loss, Johnson won his next two matches and earned third place. Johnson was one of three Coppell students, including seniors Duncan Dominguez and Trevor Ward, who brought home a medal in boys wrestling.

“He was a UIL state placer in about six weeks,” Lowery said. “I have never seen anything like it.”

Johnson beat many wrestlers who are going to wrestle in college. Many colleges started to ask about him, but Johnson elected to attend Oklahoma State University and not wrestle in college.

“As colleges started asking me about Teddy, they all thought I was lying when I said he had only wrestled for about six weeks,” Lowery said.

While Johnson mainly chose OSU because both his parents are alumni, he has recently been given a spot on the OSU football roster.

For most Division I colleges, the football coaches start recruiting players during their junior year, and the verbal commitments are often completed before their senior year. This process is the norm except with the Class of 2010 from Coppell High School.

With changes occurring within the CHS football program last year, with Coach Bob Shipley leaving for Brownwood and Coach Joe McBride being hired towards the end of the school year, the current seniors were left in the dark when it came to a head coach helping get their names out into the collegiate world.

 As the new head coach, McBride worked hard to help seniors get scholarship offers. Although Johnson had many offers, he had always known he wanted to go to OSU no matter what.

 “Johnson is a tremendous athlete,” McBride said. “He has all the tools and is still nowhere close to reaching his potential. I knew I had to find a way to get OSU to look at him, even this late.”

McBride started sending Johnson’s video, statistics, grades, and other records to OSU to see if there was a chance to get Johnson a walk-on spot on the team.

“As I kept talking to [OSU], I told them they would not find another freshman linebacker as good as him,” McBride said.

After two months talking to OSU coaches, Johnson was put on the 2010 OSU football roster.

“I have always been a Cowboys fan and knew I would go there no matter what,” Johnson said. “But now, with a spot on the team I couldn’t be happier.”

As of now, there are no exact terms to what Johnson will do next year but he will most likely be redshirted. His goals for next year are to establish and try to be part of the team in a positive way.

If Johnson is able to show any of the talent, hard work and dedication he has shown at CHS, he should surely make a statement at OSU.

The Coppell boys wrestling team not only went far this season, they had 6 wrestlers qualify for state which was held at the Delco Arena in Austin.

Hampton Roese, Teddy Johnson, Trevor Ward, Duncan Dominguez, Kaleb Richardson and Matt Robinson were the six wrestlers who qualified to go to the state tournament this past weekend along with alternates Mark McPherson and Sam Rice.

“Not only was I glad I qualified for state, I am very happy with how our season went this year,” senior Hampton Roese said. “We worked really hard to achieve all that we did.”

The team wrestled both Friday Feb. 26 and Saturday Feb. 27.

“Though the weekend was fun, it was long and tiring,” senior Duncan Dominguez said. “We worked really hard before and during the tournament.”

Some of the schools that Coppell was competing against at the state tournament included Flower Mound, Allen, Southlake, Lake Highlands and Arlington Martin.

Five of the wrestlers ended up placing in each of their weight classes over the weekend, which is very impressive. Trevor Ward got second place, Teddy Johnson and Duncan Dominguez got third place and Hampton Roese and Kaleb Richardson got fourth place.

“This season was really long with countless hours of practice which helped us come as far as we have,” senior Teddy Johnson said. We are very fortunate to have the coaches we have here at Coppell.”

It is a great achievement for the Coppell wrestling team to have 6 wrestlers go to state with almost all of them placing in the tournament. Their numerous hours dedicated to meets and practicing did pay off at the end of their very successful season.

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