Adding, subtracting, jumping and stunts, kids chattering all around her, between solving equations in her classroom and calling cheers and directions to the team, Cassidy Vuylsteke does both. Although it’s her first year teaching math at OHS, she’s already juggling a double life as a cheer coach.
“This will be my third year teaching,” Vuylsteke said. “I would say I have a bit of a special or unique experience here because I did go to school here. I graduated from here. So I’m familiar with the building and I know a lot of the people already, but it definitely is just an adjustment learning the structure and the systems they have in place and meeting all the students.”
Coming back to her old high school has been a full circle moment. Working with her former teachers feels different but also enjoyable with the dynamic change.
“I think it’s cool being able to have interactions with my teachers,” Vuylsteke said. “When they were my teachers, you have a certain relationship, and then when you’re a coworker, it’s different. So it’s been cool to get to know them more on a personal level.”
Being a teacher or a coach wasn’t always aligning for her plan. Vuylsteke switched her majors five times before finding her path along with finding her way back home and back to school.
“I finally landed on education at the end of my sophomore year and kind of haven’t looked back since,” Vuylsteke said. “As soon as I knew I wanted to come back home, I wanted to be teaching or coaching cheer.”
Now she gets to combine both of her passions without giving one up. Even though math and cheer don’t seem very complementary, they both share one important thing: helping people and encouraging kids to their fullest confidence.
“I think one’s very creative, and one’s not so creative,” Vuylsteke said. “But in both, I get to push people to try new things and make mistakes and keep learning. There are a lot of people who come into a math class and assume they’re bad at it, so I encourage them to have a better mindset just like I do with my cheerleaders.”
Her schedule stays mostly packed throughout the weeks, with early mornings and long nights at school. But for Vuylsteke, it’s worth it to do something she’s passionate about.
“I am here a lot,” Vuylsteke said. “Some days I’ll get here around 6:55 in the morning and won’t leave until 7:30 or 8 at night. It’s definitely hard, but it’s something I really enjoy doing. It’s just about time management and making sure when I’m not here, I’m taking care of myself so that when I am here, I can be fully in.”
Cheerleading is about more than just stunts or competitions, it’s also about school pride and being a positive example to those both in your team and in your school.
“The most important part of cheer, I think, is just being a pillar of spirit for your school,” Vuylsteke said. “Yes, we want to have really cool stunts and good jumps, but being a good human and showing what good sportsmanship looks like is really the core of it.”
