Students at Archie Williams only see their teachers at school, hidden behind desks and clicking through slideshows. But many staff spend their time off campus diving into unique hobbies. From professional wakeboarding to coffee tasting, teachers spend time outside the classroom exploring a wide range of interests.
Before Aaron Aubrey was a math teacher, he was on the front cover of the magazine Alliance Wake, reaching for the skies on his wakeboard. When reflecting on his wakeboarding career, Aubrey highlights the recognition he gained from his abilities.
“Getting on the cover [of Alliance Wake] was pretty big. There was also a TV show, on FUEL TV, that I was in for three or four episodes… The moments of recognition are big, where it’s like, ‘[wow,]’ these companies and these media brands [are acknowledging] what you’re doing by using you for their product,” Aubrey said.
Sticking true to his professional pursuits, Aubrey still prefers wakeboarding over other water sports. Even after years on the water, the adrenaline has kept him hooked.
“[In contrast to water skiing], wakeboarding was way more fun because you’re on the edge of disaster. Wakeboarding has tricks and more adrenaline, and you can’t do tricks on skis… [On a wakeboard,] you’re like, ‘oh my God, I’m flying through the air, and I could die at any moment,’” Aubrey said.
Similar to Aubrey, Nancy Jenks, a paraeducator at Archie Williams, prefers using a board instead of skis. However, her sport takes place on snow rather than water. Jenks grew up in a skiing family, but she eventually transitioned to snowboarding and found it to be the perfect fit.
“I grew up in a skiing family, and I’m a certified ski instructor, but then switched over to snowboarding and never went back. A bunch of my friends and I all took one lesson, and we were falling and having a great time, and just me and another guy kept it up… I’ve been snowboarding for about 18 years since,” Jenks said.
While on a snowboarding trip, Jenks led a group of friends down particularly difficult terrain, and she snapped both of her ankles. Despite suffering severe injuries, Jenks continued to pursue her passion for snowboarding.
“For six months I was in a wheelchair, but I had a bumper sticker on my wheelchair that said I still love snowboarding… [and] even after I broke my ankles it wasn’t something that made me stop,” Jenks said.
While Aubrey and Jenks pursue fast-paced action sports, history teacher David Gutfeld enjoys a more relaxing and inexpensive hobby: coffee tasting. Gutfeld’s students often see him with a cup at his desk, and assuming that it is coffee is a safe prediction.
“When you have a hobby like snowboarding, you’re spending hundreds and hundreds just for one experience, whereas coffee is a pretty affordable thing. That’s one of the reasons I like it,” Gutfeld said.
Over the years, Gutfeld has become a caffeine connoisseur. His love of coffee has led him to drink five cups a day, sharpening his taste buds to taste the smallest of differences between cups.
“You taste it how it’s done in different preparations… drip coffee versus espresso, espresso versus pour-overs. [Also,] if you’re tasting a robusta coffee from Vietnam… versus something that’s from like Colombia or somewhere else in Central America, they’re gonna be very different. My favorite types of coffees are Ethiopian coffees because they’ve got a lot of great floral notes,” Gutfeld said.
Though some coffees are higher quality than others, Mr. Gutfeld’s most valued cups are the ones he shared with his grandfather. He believes that expertise in a hobby matters less than the experience of enjoying it with someone else.
“Some of my most favorite moments of drinking coffee are not necessarily drinking fancy coffee… It’s drinking crappy coffee with my grandpa in his house in the desert, looking out at the sunrise,” Gutfeld said.
Across campus, teachers engage in a wide range of activities during their time off, whether through personal hobbies, long-term pursuits, or skills they continue to develop. These parts of their lives are not always visible in the classroom, but they remain an important aspect of who they are beyond their work at Archie Williams.
