“This is still a special place to me.”
Roosevelt High School Coach and Algebra teacher Richard Severyns loves Roosevelt.
He has loved it since he was a student there.
“I remember pep rallies really being a big, big deal. The courtyard was full of people. Everybody was clamoring to be a part of it.”
He graduated from Roosevelt in 1993.
Things have changed since his time as a student.
The shopping centers that now surround Roosevelt used to be empty fields.
Windsor Park Mall is no more.
What hasn’t changed in all that time is Severyns love for Roosevelt and his community.
He takes pride in mentoring the newest generation of Rough Riders—some of them are kids of his old classmates.
But one student is extra special.
“My son is a junior at Roosevelt now. I've worked with other coaches that have coached their own kids before, and I knew it was kind of a cool thing. But until I actually got to take my son to work with me and coach him and be on the same team and things like that -- I don't think I would trade that for anything. Having my son here, where I went to school is, is awesome.”
While he takes pride in teaching and coaching his son, Severyns treats all his students like they are his own.
He gets on their level.
He earns their respect.
And they, in turn, earn the grades they need to be successful beyond the walls of Roosevelt.
“I think they see that I care. I never sit behind my desk. I work. I work very hard when I'm in the classroom. These kids want to be successful and once they realize that they have a person in front of them that can help them become successful, that really, really builds that trust. That’s vital.”
You can see the spark when Severyns talks about his students or his time at Camelot Elementary School, Ed White Middle School and Roosevelt because this community means so much to him. It’s the community that shaped him. Now, he’s helping shape that community.
“You know, this place is still a special place to me. There are special people here and special kids. There's things about it that have changed, but I still love it, you know, there's still me and still where I'm from and who I am.”
