Robert Shahan has been a figurehead teacher here at Ridgeview High School. Most notably being science board chair as well as varsity baseball coaching, Shahan has been able to impact the lives and culture of many students for his time here. But how exactly did he become a key figure in the eyes of students at Ridgeview?
Shahan spent his high school years focused on his athletics as school was an easy task for him, never really having a struggle to keep up in his classes. Finding himself now enjoying the best of both worlds with being a Varsity Baseball coach and beloved science teacher. But before then Shahan was just like every other high school student waiting for his true calling.
His sophomore year of college Shahan was given a glimpse of what his future would be here at Ridgeview getting an opportunity to help coach alongside then Ridgeview football coach Cruz. “I jumped on the opportunity, I started coaching when I was nineteen,” Shahan explains, “Football first and then I met coach Hunsaker who was coaching baseball.”
But before Shahan was able to make that transition from off the field and into a classroom environment he put his calling for teaching to a halt. “After college I stopped pursuing a career as a teacher because I was overwhelmed by the requirements.” Shahan during this time opted for a job as a wildlife biologist that he said would soon further his knowledge and help him as a teacher. “Ultimately I realized where I really wanted to be was the classroom which took me some time to realize,” Shahan said.
Being a key figure to most of his students Shahan shares that he was once similar in a way, “My English teachers were the most impactful, I think they saw I was talented, but made me feel great. Whether it was interactions in hallways or in the class itself.” Shahan explains that when it comes to the classroom environment, “I believe that openness with the students is the best way to teach… I don’t think students are gonna learn from you [as a teacher] until they feel that you really care about them.”
Shahan is in his eighth year teaching and fifteenth year coaching at Ridgeview. And that bonds in the classroom follow outside onto the field with his athletes. Shahan explains the close bonds he and the baseball coaching staff have built within their team is an accomplishment he’s happily reminded of, “It’s every time former players come back and practice with us, go to our games, celebrate with us, end up coaching with us… those really complete the circle. Not only did those students have a great experience but are drawn back to it and pass that experience onto the next generation.”
Shahan has been a teacher here at Ridgeview that leaves an impact on his students. With his teachings both in the classroom and when he’s coaching having lasting impressions on the students. Hoping to build on his years here at Ridgeview for all his students, Shahan jokingly teases about his future on campus as, “To never leave this campus until they force me out.”
