After the absence of a true health teacher and another strength coach to help out Tim Rogers, Paige Hallock was hired and took over the once-vacated position. She chose FHC for many reasons, specifically its community.
“I chose it for the community. I have been around FHC for my family who grew up here and coming to watch playoff games,” Hallock said. “You always see the tailgates and the whole community coming out and coming together to support the school, and that was something that I was very much passionate about looking forward to having, and being able to bring the community back into the classroom is something I’m excited about.”
Hallock never intended to be a high school teacher. She had a different aspiration out of high school, and was looking to chase that at Grand Valley State University. She was studying in the medical field and wanted to pursue something medical related outside of college. But things don’t always go as planned, and soon, she realized she wanted to pursue teaching.
“I originally went to school to be a nurse when I went into college,” Hallock said. “Then it didn’t work out, and I’ve always been told I was gonna be a teacher, but once I started to substitute teach and stuff, it was always like I wanted to be in the health and wellness area.”
When she started as a health and strength coach, she was very adequately prepared. Her background provided fundamental building blocks for her to excel as a strength and wellness teacher here at FHC.
“I always loved lifting, and the reason I wanted to be a strength coach was because in high school, I was never instructed on how to lift properly,” Hallock said. “So I really benefited from having a strength coach in college that came in and taught us proper form and how to rotate upper body and lower body and agility. So I want to better myself so I can help students and student-athletes as well.”
She also had an athletic background, and used that to help make herself a very well-rounded strength coach; she played all throughout her high school days in many sports and in college as well. It is very hard to make it to the college level, and that helped make her position as strength coach even better.
“In high school, I played volleyball and softball for a year, ran track, and played basketball,” Hallock said. “I committed to Grand Valley to continue to be a student-athlete, and I went there for basketball and played it for two years pre-COVID. I dealt with a lot of injuries, and then COVID happened, and I decided to just kind of finish up school and get done with that.”
But her time is not fully focused on just being the new strength and wellness teacher. Hallock also has a lot of hobbies that she fills her free time with outside of the classroom. They help her unwind after a long school week.
“I love to drive, so just like taking little road trips,” Hallock said.” I love watching the sunset and sunrise and visiting coffee shops, so if anyone ever has recommendations of coffee shops around, let me know. Just spending time with friends and family, usually just watching sports or playing something competitive.”
When she is not out driving or visiting coffee shops, she loves to sit down and watch athletics, as it runs very deep in her family with multiple Division One cousins and professional athletes in her heritage. Any good sporting event intrigues Hallock, and she does not have a die-hard love for any one team because of the vast variety of sports teams she has been introduced to through her family.
“That’s tough because I still have family that plays,” Hallock said. “So I gotta go Western for Tate, always been a Michigan State fan because of family, and I know Brian Kelly really well, so I like to watch LSU. I don’t really have a specific sports team, and I’m not a die-hard sports fan. I just like to watch good sports, so if there is a competing game on I watch it.”
But this year, she is looking to embrace her new job and tackle it with a full head of steam. New jobs bring a lot of possibilities, and Hallock is very excited to see her first year unfold here at FHC.
“Building those relationships with kids,” Hallock said. “ I’m getting to know students and kind of hearing the ‘hi Miss Hallock,’ in the hallway, and being able to say hi to kids is something I’m excited about. And I’m kind of hidden away. I’m always in the gym or down here by the art wing, so I don’t get to see as many faces, and I only get to see the students that are in my class. So, just like getting out and about and watching different sporting events, choir and band which is what I’m excited about. “
