Tiffany Zhu

Chantell Rodriguez’s responsibilities as a part of Harker’s administrative staff include coordinating events like the annual Harker Day. Rodriguez started cheering in middle school and mentored for an elementary school before joining Harker as the team’s head coach.

3:05 p.m.: Students enter math teacher Victor Adler’s room as office hours begins. Dr. Adler scrawls calculus formulas across the whiteboard as he answers his students’ questions.

3:30 p.m.: Without a moment to spare, Dr. Adler heads out the door. In mere minutes, he arrives on the other side of the campus at the Singh Aquatic Center. He steps onto the pool deck and begins coaching the junior varsity water polo team. This is the rhythm of Dr. Adler’s fall season.

“I have to put some serious effort into the planning of the practice,” Dr. Adler said. “I’m tired at the end of the day, and luckily, I have the math stuff kind of down in terms of what needs to happen, and I know water polo, having been through it many years. But it still takes time and energy on the pool deck and in the classroom.”

Balancing the roles of a staff member and coach requires dedication. Just as student athletes juggle their academics and sports, math teacher Dr. Adler, journalism teacher Kevin Oliver and advancement administrative coordinator Chantell Rodriguez learned to navigate their responsibilities.

During the season, coaches commit over five hours each week to running practices, on top of traveling with their teams for matches and meets. Dr. Adler, who joined as a teacher in 2008, took on the second role of water polo coach two years later. Though coordinating math lessons and sports practices simultaneously still remains challenging, his background as a former water polo player eased his transition into coaching.

In mentoring both his students and athletes, Dr. Adler emphasizes the concept of “intentional learning,” where a student focuses on understanding the fundamentals before applying them to complex math problems or game strategies. He uses this philosophy to teach his students in and outside of the classroom.

“Coaching was eye-opening for me in informing my teaching and teaching informing my coaching,” Dr. Adler said. “In both, you get to observe the students practice — that’s really where the learning happens. Are they practicing intentionally, or are they just going through the motions of doing the homework? Are they going through the motions getting the drill done or are they trying to make the connections to the bigger picture?”

Dr. Adler’s students and players notice his commitment to those he mentors. Senior Melody Yin shares the support and care she received from Dr. Adler as both a coach and teacher.

“He does a really good job at creating a very comfortable environment both in water polo and in class,” Melody said. “It’s very easy for us to talk to him, and once you get to know him, he’s very genuine and supportive because he’s truly invested in both our education and athletics.”

Journalism teacher Kevin Oliver’s brings energy to instructing and coaching cross-country. When he applied for the coaching position two years ago, athletic director Dan Molin encouraged him to also pursue teaching. As a former lawyer with a love for reading and writing, Oliver found his niche in teaching journalism.

“I recall telling friends that my end game was to teach and coach cross country,” Oliver said. “I didn’t have as much background in teaching, but writing was one of my strengths as a student and as an attorney.”

Alongside teaching the Introduction to Journalism course, Oliver also advises the Talon yearbook staff. In both cross-country and Talon, he aims to foster teamwork and build a collaborative culture. He believes that a student’s contributions to the team are just as important as their individual commitment.

For advancement administrative coordinator Chantell Rodriguez, balancing her office day job with coaching the cheerleading team is now second nature. Her responsibilities as a part of Harker’s administrative staff include coordinating events like the annual Harker Day. Rodriguez started cheering in middle school and mentored for an elementary school before joining Harker as the team’s head coach.

“I used to cheer and coach before coming to Harker and I hadn’t done it in a while, but it’s something that I’ve always been passionate about,” Rodriguez said. This job is something that I love doing on my own outside, so I honestly love it here.”

Rodriguez hopes to bring the team spirit she grew up with in her cheerleading team to the Harker community, during not just cheer practices but also school-wide events.

“I love the athletic portion of cheerleading,” Rodriguez said. “When I cheered we did a lot of competitions and that was fun but also building community. Even to this day, girls that I cheered with in high school are still some of my closest friends.”

Frosh varsity cross country runner and Introduction to Journalism student Isabella Wu was initially surprised when she realized that the teacher leading her journalism class also coached her on the track. She looks up to his enthusiasm for both roles, as she also balances the demands of school and sports.

“For me, being at school and going to cross country is a lot of time, but it’s super great because of the people there,” Isabella said. “It may be hard for Mr. Oliver, too, but he really likes both, which makes it less difficult. It’s just my first year, but I can already tell the dedication he puts in.”