It’s no secret that it is a difficult time to be a teacher. With the lack of funding, support, and time, teachers are working harder than ever to properly teach and prepare their students. One South Carolina teacher is fighting through it all, finding a unique outlet to bring relief to her students and herself. 

 

Meet Liz Simmons, a special education teacher at Fort Dorchester High School in Charleston, South Carolina. Growing up in Hobart, Indiana, Simmons always knew she wanted to work with individuals with special needs, a passion inspired by her uncle.

 

“I had an uncle growing up who had a disability, and so I always had a fascination on why he was doing a certain thing or why he wasn't doing a certain thing,” Simmons said. 

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While she knew she wanted to work with those with special needs, teaching wasn't Simmons’ initial career goal. Simmons was more interested in sports and had never considered teaching until high school, when a free period led her to volunteer as a teacher’s assistant.

 

“Ms. Ring, who was the high school special Ed teacher that I was mirroring…she introduced why she became a teacher and her purpose” Simmons explained. “And she just showed me more of… how you can change lives for the kids.” 

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After graduating from Hobart High School, Simmons attended Purdue University where she earned her special education teaching license. She graduated in spring 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic brought on not only academic challenges, but personal ones as well-just three months before graduation, Simmons lost her mother, Cheryl, to COVID-19 complications. Despite the heartache, Simmons persevered and began her teaching career in South Carolina. 

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Simmons’ early teaching years were filled with many challenges.

 

“My first two years were really rough,” she shared. “The first year was right after my mom died. The second year, I went into a full autism classroom and I was just getting beaten up by everyone. I just didn’t know how to properly handle it at the time. And with the lack of resources for answers, it got difficult really quick.” 

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Things began to turn around in her third year when Simmons unexpectedly stepped into a new role: head coach of Fort Dorchester High School’s boys volleyball team.  Initially,  Simmons had been approached by her district’s athletic director to be the Junior Varsity (JV) coach for the girl’s volleyball program. Simmons declined the offer and instead joked that if the district ever wanted to start a boys volleyball program, she’d be more than happy to help. Within two weeks, Simmons received an email from the district athletic director.

 

“He messaged me and was like, Congrats, you're the boys head coach. And I was like, whoa, whoa. Hold up. We're just going to do this over email? I mean, I was just joking, but I'd be happy to start the program. That's no problem. But let's slow this down a bit,” Simmons expressed. 

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After a conversation with the athletic director and the other high schools in the district, the program was a go. Simmons was happy but knew she had a huge challenge ahead of her. The first hurdle was finding interested male students to join the team.

 

“I was actually worried that we weren't even going to be able to make a team,” Simmons explained, “and so I had 11 kids come to tryouts, and I kept all 11 for the first team because I really had no other choice.” 

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With the team set, Simmons had to face her next hurdle-teaching the boys how to play volleyball. While many of the boys had played volleyball at the beach or in gym class, none of them had played on an actual team.

 

“They all were cavemen out there. They were all hitting the ball hard, and think they just need to swing their arms to get it up. And I'm like, no, that is so wrong. It is so much more than that.” Simmons stated.

 

Not only were the boys beginners, they were also worried about playing traditionally girls sport. It was a struggle at first but Simmons was able to show the boys the masculine side of the sport. 

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As their season started to come to a close, Simmons began to get nervous. The team had not won a game all season. It would be even harder now to motivate the boys to return if they did not win at all. It all came down to their final game. The boys put up a tough fight and managed to secure their first victory.

 

"The gym went wild! It was at home, thankfully. And it was our last game of the season, too. And it was the best. They were all jumping up and down. They were all excited,” Simmons said.  “It was just like, oh, finally. It was just one of those. Thank God we didn't go without winning a game this season. I was so worried.” 

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When the volleyball season ended, Simmons felt a familiar dullness return to her everyday life. The winter was long and uneventful, and Simmons found herself itching to get back to coaching. So that’s exactly what she did. 

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Inspired by her experience with the boys volleyball team, Simmons started to advocate for a Unified Track and Field program. Simmons, having started a Unified Track and Field program at her old high school while she was still a student, knew what needed to be done. Within weeks, the district athletic director spoke with the other high schools in the district and made it happen. With the support from her school and community, Simmons brought the program to life, allowing students with and without intellectual disabilities to compete together.

 

“It was crazy. But it was fun and I loved it, and the kids really loved it. They made friends, and they competed in a sport. None of them have been able to be involved in a sport before so they got to do something new, and they did really well with it,” Simmons said. 

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While Simmons is first and foremost a teacher, coaching has become her second love. Coaching the boys volleyball program has allowed Simmons to share the passion for the sport she loves dearly.

 

“Most of [the boys] haven’t played [volleyball] before, but now some of them want to keep playing it year round,” Simmons said. “Just seeing their love for the sport that I also love so much grow, I think that’s one of my favorite parts [of being a coach].” 

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As volleyball is Simmons’ first love, the Unified Track and Field program holds a special place in her heart.

 

“My kids, a lot of them don't express how they feel, but you can see it all over their face. And so I just love seeing their reactions to what's going on around them as well.” Simmons expressed. 

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Although students are primarily the ones who benefit from school sports, Simmons believed coaching has had a profound impact on her own well-being.

 

“Volleyball has helped me with that stress reliever in a way. It has helped my mental health. I mean it makes me more busy, but I think it is super important for teachers to find ways to relieve that stress because it's a lot. People don't realize how much teachers actually deal with,” Simmons said.

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When Simmons is not coaching, she enjoys reading and watching sports with her husband. However, it took her a long time to be able to separate school and work. Some days it would be so hard to shake off the feelings after a difficult day at school. It started to take over Simmons’ mental health.

 

“I mean, there were days where I would come home and be super upset about what happened while I was at school, and that's just not healthy in any way,” Simmons said. 

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That is why Simmons urges fellow teachers to be kind to themselves.

 

“Just giving yourself grace when you are a teacher is a huge thing I want to tell other people” Simmons said. “You're not going to be perfect, and you are going to mess up, and you might make other teachers unhappy, or parents that you're working with, they aren't going to agree with you and not taking it personally, even though it's super easy to.” 

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Being a teacher can be a thankless job. The long hours, huge workload, and overwhelming stress can be a lot for a teacher. But through the struggle and stress, all that really matters to Simmons is seeing her students succeed.

 

“I'm not just there teaching, I'm there helping them become more independent human beings,” Simmons said “Just being able to see them be successful outside of school, I think, is what motivates me so much to be a teacher.”