Terie Campbell

My journey in education started because of my dad, who was a college coach. Growing up, I'd listen to the conversations at our 6 o'clock dinners when he was home, and I just thought, 'I think I want that.' I loved sports and was always playing with my two brothers and boy cousins, so coaching felt natural to me. I had to pick a teaching field beyond PE, so I chose science because it always intrigued me. I became an anatomy teacher and spoke at science conventions, trying to teach other educators how to make science more exciting. I wanted to be that teacher who made kids love what I taught, not one of those boring teachers I had experienced. My first job was in Sonora, Texas, an hour and a half from the Mexico border, where I taught a lot of low-income kids. To me, all kids want the same thing - they want to work, be loved, be cherished, and be heard, regardless of their socioeconomic background. After three years there as assistant basketball coach and head track coach, I moved to the Metroplex and became a head basketball coach for seven years. When softball became a UIL-sanctioned sport, I moved to Grapevine High School and eventually became the head softball coach at the new high school after three years. I stayed in that district for 18 years and became the very first women's athletic coordinator at Colleyville, which was important during the Title IX era to make sure female sports got equal representation in things like weight room access. I always told my coaches I had their back unless they violated a UIL rule or the Code of Ethics against kids - then I'd have the kids' backs instead. My last position before retiring was at Hebron High School in Lewisville ISD, where I coached golf and taught special needs PE for six years. I retired when COVID happened because my mom had moved up here after my dad died, and I wanted to be around her. In 2021, the district hired me back part-time to mentor first-year coaches across their five high schools and 16 middle schools, which is what I'm doing now.