WCHS social studies teacher Paul Jacobson has been working at Churchill for 20 years as both a teacher and coach. He has coached cross country, indoor track as well as track and field while also teaching AP U.S. Government and Honors Global Issues. At the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year, Jacobson has plans to retire from his teaching position at the age of 62. However, he will still continue to coach his teams and will be able to focus more on them.
“I will be 62, and have worked for 46 years (25 in retail), and I felt like it was a good time with the 2024 election going on since I teach AP U.S. Gov,” Jacobson said. “I also wanted to concentrate more on my own competitive/age group distance running.”
Jacobson has been running since he was in high school and has gained precious knowledge over the years. Because of his vast experience, he understands what it takes to be a great runner, as well as a great coach. He does his best to motivate his runners and keep them consistent, and it constantly produces positive results. Both the cross country and track teams have been very successful throughout the years, continuously winning races and making it to states in recent years.
“The runners have helped me stay young and connected to racing,” Jacobson said. “I have learned a lot about distance running (which I have been doing since age 16), motivation and how best to train. They have helped me understand the teenage brain and motivation.”
Jack Kreindler, a WCHS junior, has trained under Jacobson on his teams for two and a half years now. Throughout this time, he has been able to overcome many obstacles due to the supportive coaching of Jacobson. Coach Jacobson has helped him stay consistent and has given him many pointers to improve his performance. As an experienced coach, Jacobson is essential to the success of the runners on both the track and cross-country teams.
“Coach Jacobson has been influential by giving me good workouts to do and always being supportive,” Kreindler said. “With his help, I have learned that the best thing I can do, is stay consistent every day,”
Jacobson has learned many things over his career as a coach, including how to motivate the athletes and uplift them when needed. Overall, Jacobson said his retirement will not cause large effects on the teams, but it will allow him to concentrate more on them and devote more time to coaching.
“I will retire from teaching this June, but will continue to coach cross country and track runners at Churchill,” Jacobson said. “I have learned not to take everything so seriously, there will always be another season, not to judge or overanalyze, running is simple.”
Kreindler has trained under Jacobson for two years and has faced many challenges in his running career. Through wins and losses, Jacobson has always helped his runners recover and come back even stronger. He is very passionate about his job, but also knows how much pressure to put on his athletes and when to give them a break.
“Some challenges I’ve faced are training really hard and then not getting the outcome I hoped for and getting sick at bad times during the season,” Kreindler said.“I ran all summer and worked hard throughout the season but I struggled at regionals and states. After a bad race, he always gives me words of encouragement and the workouts he gives us have made me a much better runner and have led to exponential improvement.”
