Whether students are a football player, know someone on the team or don’t live under a rock, they know who Coach David Archibald is. He’s most commonly found on the football field or football practice but this semester, Coach Archibald can be found in a place he hasn’t been since 2016: the classroom. With the new theology teacher, Dr. King, out on medical leave, the theology department needed someone to cover a few of his classes.
“I learned that there was need and said, ‘if I can help just let me know.’” said Coach Archibald. Now he’s teaching two sections of World Religions.
Before the semester began, some students found it weird that the well-known football coach was teaching one of the religion classes. Many had no idea he had taught for 13 years before joining Viator.
“At first, before the class had even started, I definitely did think it was weird that a football coach would be teaching our class,” said junior Isabella Redel. “Since being in his class, it’s clear that he knows a lot about the topics we cover.”
After having Coach Archibald for a few weeks, some students have expressed that he doesn’t like using technology in a classroom setting.
“We’ve only used our iPads twice and it’s been three weeks since the start of the semester,” said junior Katie Stevens. “I don’t mind having no technology and it doesn’t impact my education, but sometimes it feels like it makes it harder to pay attention.”
For many students, classes can feel less engaging when they don’t have access to their iPads. When walking into an “iPad-free” class, students often feel like they’ll never use technology in that class for the rest of the semester.
“Some of the technology that has become popular is shortening our attention spans and causing more distractions during the school day,” said Coach Archibald. “I only want to use technology when it is beneficial.” said Coach Archibald. “I only want to use technology when it is beneficial.,” said Coach Archibald. “I only really want to use it when it’s beneficial.”
With multiple months left of the semester, Coach Archibald is clearly setting his students up for success.