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Multimedia Package Produced by Addison Hamilton and Saige Steele - Spring 2015

Hamilton balances teaching, coaching, family

(May 22, 2015)

Feature, photos and video news package produced by Addison Hamilton and Saige Steele, junior high journalism students

 

Softball coach, football coach, Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor, and teacher. Nick Hamilton serves in all of these roles, as well as raising his 3-year-old daughter, Jaylee.

Hamilton may be busy, but he said he enjoys seeing students succeed.

“It is always rewarding when you educate students and teach them something new. The energy that they have when they learn something new is just amazing,” he said.

Hamilton coaches the JV softball team and has been since 2013. Freshman JV Catcher Mikayla Smith explained how Hamilton helps her.

“He is always encouraging and has helpful criticism,” she said.

He brings the same classroom attitude to the softball field and pushes the team to succeed and win their games. Hamilton said that the key essential to winning is doing the small things.

“What life lessons this sport’s taught me is that sometimes it’s not always skill and talent that wins. Sometimes it takes a little bit of knowledge about the game. If you’re bigger, faster, stronger, you’re usually going to be successful. And in this game, it takes the little things, like throwing the ball right and catching the ball right and knowing where to go with the ball when it’s hit to you,” Hamilton said.

He is close with his students and players. Kennedy Hamilton, centerfielder, explained Hamilton’s coaching on and off the field.

“I think Nick Hamilton is a really good coach when it comes to outfielding and all around good coach. If you listen to him he likes to joke around a lot, but he knows what he’s talking about and he teaches you a lot about softball,” she said.

Though Hamilton enjoys coaching sports, he teaches many students during the day about agriculture and welding-based learning. Hamilton started teaching at Troy High School for two years before returning to Silver Lake, his hometown. Many students want to take Hamilton’s classes and learn the necessary life essentials like changing a tire or welding a fence. 

As an extracurricular, Hamilton is the advisor for the FFA group. This activity is open to anyone in grades 9-12, and Hamilton continued the tradition of FFA with Silver Lake when he arrived in 2013. Hamilton offers an agriculture class to eighth-graders to introduce them to future classes in high school.

Hamilton can certainly have a sense of humor. He said he wants students and athletes to succeed, but he wants them to have a fun time while he teaches them to become better in everything they do. Hallie Hay, eighth-grader, explained how he is in the classroom.

“My funniest memory with Nick is when he would make fun of Saige and Macey for yelling at each other and calling each other names and then he would make them say nice things about each other in front of the class,” she said.

He makes good impressions on his students. Haulston Steele, sophomore, said he wants him to run for president.

Hamilton shares the shop with his co-worker, Ian Reel. Reel describe his impression of Hamilton when they both started teaching together at Silver Lake.

“My first impression was that he definitely was a hometown guy and he had a lot of information to kind of share about how the community worked, growing up in a small community. I also grew up in a small community, so we had that similarity and that bond, but it was nice to be able to bounce some things off of him since he actually grew up in this community.”

Jamie Clark, Senior Teacher Assistant, shared what Hamilton has taught her.

“Nick taught me a lot about life, seeing as he wasn’t one of my actual teachers. He pushes his students and athletes to work really hard, and that’s what I respect about him,” she said.

 

Cut lines:

(Photo 1) Freshmen Khale Henderson and Austin Neff listen to the tips Nick Hamilton has to give them about welding.

(Photo 2) Senior Pitcher Megan Dieter throws a pitch against the Wabaunsee Chargers, helping the Lady Eagles win the game on April 16, 18-0.

(Photo 3) Freshmen Khale Henderson and Ian Todd participate in “The Farming Game” as Nick Hamilton teaches them, in a fun way, how to manage their money.