Reyes selects his father, coach as his Shining Star

Posted Date: 05/19/2023

Editor’s note: On Thursday, the top seven students selected teachers that helped them become their best person. These teachers and coaches are known as Shining Stars.

JP Reyes on why his coach John Reyes, his father, is his Shining Star.

“It's not very often that you get to have a teacher for the entirety of your school career. It’s even less likely when you have been through four different school systems.

“Coach Reyes has done just that and then some.

“I am blessed to have had him around since the day I stepped onto Earth.

“He has taught me just about everything I know. He taught me how to throw a football and how to dribble a basketball. He taught me traits like toughness, respect, responsibility, and humility. He taught me that your work ethic and your character are the biggest things that you can carry with you.

“He always told me that my work ethic will take me wherever I want to go, and here I am fixing to graduate high school and go to play collegiate football, which has always been a dream of mine.

“I can go on and on about all the lessons that he has taught me whether it was through a sport or just growing up. All those lessons will stick with me for the rest of my life and will continue to shape me into the man I am becoming. And I hope to one day be half the man he is. One thing I didn’t learn from him though is definitely my track speed, because he was never in the sprint relays, he was more of an 800/distance kind of guy.

“Anyways, I couldn’t be more thankful to have Coach Reyes in my life... So thank you to my teacher, mentor, coach, and most importantly my dad.”