Opportunities For Growth: Coach T’s New Position at App State

Headshot of Christopher Tarnowski, former Watauga English teacher and Women’s Soccer coach. Photo credits: Appalachian State University

By Ian Biles, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

Christopher Tarnowski, a former Watauga High School English teacher and head coach of the Women’s Soccer team, didn’t return to WHS this year. Instead, Tarnowski, or Coach T, as he is known by his students, accepted a position at Appalachian State in the Department of Education as a Clinical Internship Specialist. He manages App State’s student teachers as they begin their teaching experiences in schools around the state. He also makes sure that every student teacher’s experience goes well.  

“It wasn't an easy decision [leaving the high school],” Tarnowski said. “My main reason for leaving was looking for growth in a professional sense. At App, there are a lot of departments that I could move into in the coming years, and the opportunity to gain graduate degrees in different fields. My decision really comes down to App having career opportunities that weren’t there at the high school.” 

Tarnowski said that the change has definitely been an adjustment for him. The shift from teaching to a more administrative job was significant, and he finds himself missing aspects of the high school. 

“The thing I miss the most is definitely the students,” Tarnowski said. “Teaching is such an enjoyable job, and it's such a fun thing to do each day, building those relationships and getting to know the different students that I taught and that I coached. So I would say, not seeing [them] daily has certainly been an adjustment.”

Lila Page, a senior who was in one of Tarnowski’s Creative Writing classes, said the class made a lasting impact and served as a way to grow her ability as a writer through expression. 

“[Creative Writing] allowed me to express myself in a way that I hadn’t been able to before,” said Page. “We got to do a lot of fun assignments and really got to be creative because the parameters he would give us weren’t very specific, so we could really just take the project wherever we wanted to.” 

Tarnowski certainly left a lasting impression on the school. Whether it was as a coach, an English teacher, or just a friendly face, Tarnowski made an impact. And students who had him also had an impact on him.

“The connections with my students were very impactful,” said Tarnowski. “Especially in classes like creative writing, watching [students] grow as writers, and as people, that was really important to me.”