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Striving to become a role model for athletes |
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Written by Publisher
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Saturday, 28 November 2009 |
Photo submitted
Molly Darr (right), a teacher and coach in the Clarion Area School District, embraces her mother, Christy (left). Darr is a 2003 graduate of Kane Area High School where she excelled in athletics.
By Ted Lutz
Republican Staff
Athletics have always been a major part of the life of Kane native Molly Darr.
While attending Kane Area High School, Darr played volleyball and basketball and participated in track, qualifying for the state meet in the triple jump. She was recognized as the school’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete in her senior year in 2003.
“Sports were very important for me,” Darr said in looking back on her outstanding high school athletic career. “I learned so much self-discipline.”
Darr said her coaches at Kane High School “developed a good relationship with the students.”
She said she is falling back on her rewarding experience in Kane athletics to help her become a “positive role model” for the students she coaches.
Darr is in her third year as a fifth-grade teacher at the Clarion Area Elementary School. She also is the coach for the Clarion freshmen girls basketball team and the fifth and sixth-grade girls volleyball team. She is the assistant coach for the Clarion varsity girls track team.
“I love watching the kids learn and grow,” Darr said in commenting on her three-year coaching career. “It’s fun for me and it’s something I’m passionate about.”
Choosing a career in elementary education was an easy decision for Darr.
“I taught young children at Sunday School at the Tabor Lutheran Church in Kane,” Darr said. “I really enjoyed working with the children.” She said teaching “felt natural” for her.
In addition to athletics, Darr was involved in other activities as a student at Kane Area High School. For four years, she served on the Student Council and was the council president as a senior. She played the cello in the orchestra and sang with the Choraliers and at District Choir. She participated in the “Starbound” program.
“I felt so prepared when I went to college,” Darr said in praising her education at Kane High School.
After graduating from Kane in 2003, Darr enrolled at Thiel College in Greenville to major in elementary education with a minor in performing arts.
While at Thiel, Darr served as the secretary for the Student Government for two years and participated in several plays and musicals. She sang with the college’s Traveling Choir. She acted as the philanthropy chairperson for the Alpha Xi Delta sorority at Thiel and took part in many sorority activities to benefit needy children.
Darr, the daughter of John and Christy Darr of Highland Road, has one brother, Cory of Kane and one sister, Allison Miller of Johnsonburg. Darr is the granddaughter of Norm and Genie Thompson of Kane and has several aunts, uncles and cousins in the Kane area.
Although she’s only been teaching for a few years, Darr said she simply “loves” her job. “Some things are tough, but I’m learning more about my job every year,” Darr said. She believes she has “the patience” to teach young children.
Darr said she is teaching in a small school district similar to Kane.
“Everyone here knows you and looks out for you,” Darr said. “They helped me find my apartment and they helped me when my car broke down.”
Darr said there is “a lot of pressure” on teachers because of the guidelines set forth under the federal No Child Left Behind program and the state tests linked with it.
“The biggest challenge for teachers these days is meeting the state demands for students,” Darr said.
Darr, who serves as the secretary at her school's Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), currently is pursuing a certificate in English as a Second Language (ESL). She said her six years of Spanish classes at Kane have helped her study for the ESL certificate. Eventually, Darr plans to pursue a masters’ degree.
Despite the challenges, Darr said there are many rewards as a teacher of young children.
“It’s the little things," Darr said.
For example, a young student told her teacher: “Miss Darr, you really say it so it makes sense to me.”
“I thought to myself: ‘I’m actually doing my job,’” Darr said.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 )
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