Clear Creek ISD is home to a team of over 5,000 educators, administrators, and support staff who are committed to helping students achieve, contribute and lead with integrity. And, we’re going to talk to some of those people about what keeps them inspired and why they stay. In this episode, Coach Penders opens up about his love for CCISD, why he stays, and what motivates him to keep going.
00;00;03;28 - 00;00;23;24
Speaker 1
Clear Creek ISD is home to a team of over 5000 educators, administrators and support staff who are committed to helping students achieve, contribute and lead with integrity. And we're going to talk to some of those people about what keeps them inspired and why they stay.
00;00;26;26 - 00;00;40;29
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to the first episode of CCISD’s Why I Stay. This is Dr. Britani Moses, Director of Human Resources for Christie, and I'm joined by Dr. Casey O’Pry, assistant superintendent of Human Resources.
00;00;42;01 - 00;01;02;16
Speaker 2
Hello, everyone. And thank you, Britani. We all know CCISD has a special place and it's our people that truly make a difference in the lives of students. Today we are joined by one of those special people, coach Tommy Penders. Coach Penders, why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and how you found your way to Clear Creek ISD
00;01;03;06 - 00;01;27;11
Speaker 3
Sure. First of all, thank you for having me. I'm an East Coast guy. I grew up in New York for years, and all of a sudden, my junior year of high school, my father came home and said, we're moving to Texas and we're all in education. And my family. And he happened to be a coach as well. So I pretty much became a Texan at the age of 16.
00;01;28;01 - 00;01;52;29
Speaker 3
And I'm really thankful that I became a Texan. I've been in education for my whole professional career, save for one year, and that was the most miserable year of my professional career. And moved back to the East Coast for a little to coach in college and decided that wasn't for me. I wanted to be part of a community.
00;01;53;21 - 00;02;09;22
Speaker 3
And so I was fortunate to move back to Texas at the age of 30, coached in Port Lavaca, Texas, then Angleton, Texas, and lucky enough to come here to CCISD 14 years ago.
00;02;09;29 - 00;02;15;21
Speaker 2
We're so glad you made it to Clear Creek ISD And how long have you been with the school district?
00;02;16;10 - 00;02;49;03
Speaker 3
This is my 14th year and all 14 have been at Clear Lake High School and my wife has also been a teacher here for 14 years, which makes it even more special because the two of us have gotten to share that experience. And I've also been a part of the growth of CCISD, not only our school, as it was basically reborn with with a brand new school, but the community has changed rapidly and for the better.
00;02;50;01 - 00;02;54;14
Speaker 3
So I'm very fortunate to be a part of CCISD for the last 14 years.
00;02;54;26 - 00;02;55;20
Speaker 2
Fantastic.
00;02;56;00 - 00;03;03;09
Speaker 1
And we're so glad that you are part of Clear Lake High School and also Clear Creek ISD 14 years ago, what brought you to our district?
00;03;03;19 - 00;03;50;01
Speaker 3
I was in Angleton, which is another wonderful place to work. And our basketball program had enjoyed some tremendous success. But I'm a New Yorker and I it was a little too small for my liking. And my wife and I both wanted to test the waters of living in in a bigger community. And we thought that that would be a great opportunity when we had our children growing up, too, to live in a community that's bigger and you can be exposed to two more factors of entertainment and educational evolvement and the opportunity.
00;03;50;16 - 00;04;25;02
Speaker 3
My predecessor retired at the very young age of 53. Lynn McDonald and I applied for the position and this wonderful principal, Dr. Moran, hired me and that's where we are. My wife was lucky enough to get a job on the first try as well, and she's bounced between Ward and CLCE and back to Ward, and there's a lot to be thankful for.
00;04;25;03 - 00;04;25;25
Speaker 3
To be honest.
00;04;26;06 - 00;04;40;03
Speaker 2
Also is a big shout out to our friends at Ward Elementary School in Clear Lake City Elementary Schools. Thanks for sharing that. So, Coach, what is your why why are you here in Clear Creek ISD and why do you stay here in Clear Creek SID?
00;04;40;25 - 00;05;11;16
Speaker 3
Great question. The why has it really has to do with community. It's not this is not coach speak or public relations speak. It really is the community. I, I love being a part of it. I love going to the grocery store and bumping into people that I've work with are taught or maybe they're adults now. I love going around town and visiting.
00;05;11;26 - 00;05;34;06
Speaker 3
Being a basketball coach, I have to go to other campuses. So I've been to Clear Springs during the middle of the day and said to myself, Wow, this, this would be a great place to work. I've been to Brook and this would be a great place to work. And that's our biggest rival, been to Creek, been to Falls, been been everywhere.
00;05;34;06 - 00;06;02;12
Speaker 3
And I've noticed that CCISD is a special place. As a coach, I have to spend a lot of time on the elementary school campuses as well. In particular, my basketball group spends a lot of time at Falcon Pass, Armand Bayou and and Falcon Pass, Armand Bayou and Clear Lake City Elementary. And these are the kids that I coached during the summer at basketball camp.
00;06;02;13 - 00;06;34;13
Speaker 3
So I we we feel the community and it doesn't matter if I'm at if I'm at Clear Brook walking around the hallway, I know that that's part of my home and I do feel appreciated. I've always felt appreciated as a as a professional here, wherever I go, whether it's Dr. Smith who's no longer our superintendent or Dr. Engle, they say, hi, hi, Tommy, hi, Jennifer.
00;06;34;13 - 00;06;47;27
Speaker 3
And it's it's just a warming community. It's it's funny that my school is in Houston and it it doesn't it feels like a kind of a small town, a small branch of Houston. I'm just lucky. Yeah.
00;06;48;03 - 00;07;01;21
Speaker 1
So true. Our community does make our district such a special place. And as well, all of our schools are just so unique. So when you think about all of the years that you've been in education and coaching, what really inspires you?
00;07;02;11 - 00;07;38;11
Speaker 3
The final product? Knowing, knowing that these students that you're teaching during the day, whether it's in the classroom or coaching them as a basketball coach, that they need you and they love you to be honest and they appreciate you. They see you for a human being and not not a robot. And when when you can feel that commitment from the students and from the parents of the students, that you are inspired and you're energetic.
00;07;38;18 - 00;08;02;22
Speaker 3
And no matter how bad you're feeling that day, you know, you can't let these kids down. And I'm thankful for that. And that that inspires me. And it inspires me to teach. That's actually my favorite part of the day, because I'm a part of the the student environment. I'm in the middle of the school, I'm in the middle of the campus.
00;08;03;17 - 00;08;24;08
Speaker 3
And I love to go in the hallway and joke around with the students. And when you're here for 14 years old, trust me, you've taught their sisters. You have taught some of the people that are teaching at your school. You've known some of these kids since they were in first grade because they attended your camp religiously every year.
00;08;24;22 - 00;08;48;19
Speaker 3
So you feel the love. And I really do wish that people could experience when I'm experience what I have experience because I've been here the longevity factor and that that is my home that Clear Lake is that we are clear like we're a part of Clear Lake and and we're proud of that.
00;08;49;23 - 00;09;11;17
Speaker 2
You're story inspires you new students in pre-K to 12. The impact that your story has on so many is inspirational for me and for so many. And certainly we're hitting that midway mark for the semester. As a teacher and a coach, what advice do you have for others that might need a little bit of motivation today?
00;09;11;26 - 00;09;42;21
Speaker 3
The hardest thing to do as a professional and the most successful people as as a professional, they're not feeling it every day. They're not they're not feeling that. And the most successful people and this is what I like to relate to, not only my colleagues, the younger ones, especially because we're a part of instant gratification era is we have to find a way when we're not feeling it to feel it.
00;09;43;15 - 00;10;19;09
Speaker 3
And when when you realize that these kids actually there depending on you and in some cases it's they're depending on you for safety. You in maybe on the periphery, you would not see that they're there. They could be depending on you for love. They they could be depending on you for to have somebody that they trust. And so if you're not feeling it as a teacher, you have to dig a little bit deeper and and find a way to make it work and be thankful for where you work.
00;10;19;21 - 00;10;41;26
Speaker 3
I was I was a college basketball coach for four and a half years, and I had to be on high school campuses left and right. And I'm talking all over the United States, whether it was in in New York or Texas or California, the place that we work at is incredible. And again, it's not just Clear Lake High School where I work.
00;10;41;26 - 00;11;07;05
Speaker 3
I notice it everywhere else. I you cannot help but go to Bauerschlag Elementary, and not you will feel the love. So you just have to be thankful for where you are because I could tell you from being a college coach and being on hundreds of campuses in my five years or nearly five years is the grass is not always greener.
00;11;08;00 - 00;11;22;01
Speaker 3
That sounds cliche, but it is definitely the truth. And plus, if I ever left my job at Clear Lake, my my wife would fire me because she's a PE coach at Ward Elementary and she loves that job.
00;11;22;12 - 00;11;30;17
Speaker 2
And it's really the people that make that difference that you're talking about that distinguish which is Clear Creek. I see campuses throughout the school district.
00;11;30;26 - 00;11;57;00
Speaker 3
Yeah. It's not just and it's not just the teachers, it's not just the administrator, it's not just the support staff. It it really is the kids. Because what I'm finding and of course, is this is not utopia. Nobody ever has a perfect society, but most of the parents, a high percentage of the parents are very supportive of us.
00;11;57;00 - 00;12;20;14
Speaker 3
And we feel it. We do feel it as teachers. And that's that's a it seems like a small part in a coach's mind, maybe, that you would think that that's a small part. But for me, that support from the community and and parents and other professionals around me is what makes things work.
00;12;20;25 - 00;12;29;20
Speaker 2
And developing that partnership is, is a big part of the work that educators have and growing that partnership has a great reward for the students. When you agree.
00;12;30;03 - 00;12;58;17
Speaker 3
No question it it's it's amazing how it works. We're here for the kids and we're here to help the kids become ready for the adult world, especially in high school. And when when you feel that reciprocation and an appreciation from from the kids, it's it's definitely rewarding. And I'm not sure that you feel that way if you're working at another place.
00;12;58;17 - 00;13;02;17
Speaker 3
In my eyes, just I love where I work. I agree.
00;13;03;19 - 00;13;18;20
Speaker 1
Thank you for that. So when you think about all of the different things that you get to do as a teacher and coach and just be involved in our community in Clear Creek ISD What's your favorite part about working for Clear Creek?
00;13;18;20 - 00;13;56;22
Speaker 3
I see there's so many the the autonomy. I have felt that since day one that my whether it's my principal or my athletic director or my superintendent, they respect my professionalism and they trust me as an adult. And and to to really inspire a younger group, a high school group, teenagers, that that feeling of trust gets me going.
00;13;57;20 - 00;14;42;04
Speaker 3
And when when you can teach and coach with that level of passion, you see the end product in the kid that walks across that stage. And when you get a text message on a Saturday night from a former player who's 26 years old and he says, Coach, I just got my first head coaching job where you get a text message from another kid in college and he says, Coach, you might have known what you were talking about because he just went to his first practice and all of the same things that those are the things or, you know, you you bump into people at the grocery store and and you haven't seen them in five
00;14;42;04 - 00;15;11;14
Speaker 3
years when you last taught that person in their mother and father there and you know them, that's the reward for being here is you see, and I'm not perfect. I've made many mistakes as as a coach and as a teacher. But you you feel that love coming back from a community when you've been in that community for. And I felt that within three years of the job it was it didn't just happen recently.
00;15;12;01 - 00;15;36;04
Speaker 3
So that's that's why I get excited to talk about not only Clear Lake, but I get excited to talk about this. I have you can't walk around your job and not feel that Karen Engle doesn't love and support you. Then you're blind or you have no feelings, you know, and you can feel it. Not just because she's a Clear Lake grad.
00;15;36;11 - 00;15;41;04
Speaker 3
I've always I've always felt that way.
00;15;41;04 - 00;16;04;21
Speaker 1
That's when I hear you say that. I think about such the strong relationships and bonds that you've clearly built as a teacher and coach, but that you're also feeling reciprocated. Back to you from our leaders, from parents who clearly value what you have instilled in their kids lives. And then also hearing back from those those students saying, Coach, you were right.
00;16;04;21 - 00;16;05;29
Speaker 1
Yeah, that's nice.
00;16;06;02 - 00;16;33;17
Speaker 3
And it's really nice, too, because another another reason why I've stayed is I know I mentioned the autonomy, but my administrators have allowed me to stay in the classroom and there have been opportunities where they're like, Coach, can you can you maybe switch in and do this? And and somebody who really knows me. But in the last case, it was Kirby Killingsworth are now our AD
00;16;34;01 - 00;16;53;24
Speaker 3
And she she said in that meeting, I wasn't in that meeting. She says, no, Tommy, Tommy wants to be in the classroom. Tommy wants to be in the classroom. He's not going to want to do that. That is not where he's at his best. And the people have always allowed me to do where they've allowed me to perform the tasks that I am best at.
00;16;54;03 - 00;17;14;28
Speaker 3
And that's talking to kids, having fun with kids and having a break. And they allow me to give kids a break from chemistry, a break from AP Language Arts, take a break from, you know, German three honors. And that's nice.
00;17;15;16 - 00;17;25;12
Speaker 2
Okay, clear your excitement, enthusiasm about being a part of the classroom means serving in the classroom really inspires all of us. How do you keep that enthusiasm going?
00;17;26;07 - 00;17;52;29
Speaker 3
A lot. I would say it's genetic because from my grandfather to my uncles, to my parents, to my wife, now we're all involved in education. How do I keep it going? It's just being thankful for for where you are when you had that attitude that I get to do this, I really do say that sometimes I get to do this.
00;17;53;26 - 00;18;13;09
Speaker 3
It I could have lost my team, could have lost the the biggest game ever. And I sit there in my locker room with my players and I'm like, Guys, we get to do this. Do you realize that we get to do this? Like everybody is looking at you. There are 2800 people in the stands at Krueger Fieldhouse. It was jam packed.
00;18;13;09 - 00;18;40;02
Speaker 3
You lost a heartbreaker. But you get to do this, nobody else gets to do this. And so it's a lot of times that's the way I feel when I'm in the classroom and you get to be in charge of making a child's day better because a lot of them aren't having the best days. I was a teenager once and I'm raising two teenagers.
00;18;40;02 - 00;19;03;15
Speaker 3
And so I know that if we're not, they're fired up and and pumped up. And even if we're not feeling at our best, if we don't work at it, that it's going to be a lost day for those kids. So I know there's been many days where I didn't feel it in the classroom this morning was not one of them.
00;19;03;15 - 00;19;28;01
Speaker 3
I was in a great mood. I was kind of looking forward to this, but if you can just realize that when you're when you're in the classroom that, okay, we're in Clear Creek ISD getting to do this, we're not sitting behind a desk typing away. We are out and about and working with the community. And what is a community?
00;19;28;01 - 00;19;46;24
Speaker 3
Common ground. You're trying to establish a beautiful place and I think that's what we have here in the CCISD area. And I know I feel it in Clear Lake, but I spend enough time driving around to know that we're in a great position as painters.
00;19;46;24 - 00;19;59;11
Speaker 2
You really shine a light on just the excitement, the joy of being an educator in Clear Creek ISD What is it about your role in Clear Creek ISD that keeps you coming back year after year home?
00;20;00;13 - 00;20;21;18
Speaker 3
And you know, when we're at work we we go, we go home and home is a safe place, right? And it's a place that you love and where most of the greatest things that will ever happen to you in your life is, well, when I am in my classroom or when I am in Kruger Field House, I feel home.
00;20;22;17 - 00;20;53;00
Speaker 3
And so when, when you're at work and you feel that you're at home, well these times, these last 14 years, some of the very best moments of my life have taken place on that campus. And so how lucky would would we all be to have two homes? I'm not ready to have my home on the coast yet, but I feel I really do have two homes.
00;20;53;17 - 00;21;07;28
Speaker 3
And I know that my wife feels the same way. And in her in her profession, as well as as a as an elementary school teacher. So that's what keeps me coming back. You don't want to you don't want to break up a happy home. And we have a very happy home.
00;21;09;03 - 00;21;20;08
Speaker 1
We're so grateful that you feel like Clear Creek is your home and you have your family here and you and your wife are employed. So we're we're grateful that you call CCISD home.
00;21;20;20 - 00;21;31;24
Speaker 2
And truly grateful for the impact that you the forever impact that you and your family are having on the Clear Creek ISD community. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with our audience? Coach Penders.
00;21;31;24 - 00;21;58;16
Speaker 3
No, I, I'm excited for this opportunity and I love talking about education and community because of my background in education. So is a great opportunity to share some thoughts and ideas with people who might not see things from the eyes of a teacher and a coach. And I hope people can can see how we feel as teachers and how we feel about this community.
00;21;59;00 - 00;22;03;05
Speaker 2
Love it. And Dr. Moses, I could talk with Coach Penders all day.
00;22;03;11 - 00;22;04;11
Speaker 1
Absolutely.
00;22;04;11 - 00;22;25;22
Speaker 2
His story and the contributions that you make, you truly do inspire you inspire me. As an educator, I know our listeners out here are definitely inspired at your story and and the difference that you make in the Clear Creek ISD community. This concludes our time for today. Thank you for joining us. Coach Penders, you shared insight and why you're part of the CCISD family.
00;22;25;22 - 00;22;41;15
Speaker 2
And in doing so, you highlighted some of the amazing reasons why Clear Creek ISD is a great place to be and thank you listeners. We hope you connected with our discussion. Stay tuned for more Why I Stay interviews from Clear Creek ISD Thank you.
00;22;41;18 - 00;22;42;18
Speaker 1
Thank you.