ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) - Most of the time, Mike Moritz can be found in the classroom or on a variety of athletic fields.
Service in the U.S. Army brought him to Hardin County. After a 20-year career, he retired from Fort Knox as a lieutenant colonel.
Originally from Minnesota, he was stationed in Korea, Germany and many posts in the United States before settling in Elizabethtown.
He said he uses some skills learned in the Army in teaching, coaching and officiating today.
Not only did the military teach him patience, but as a former operations officer, he is a meticulous planner.
In the Army, he once attended organizational effectiveness school that focused a lot on studying behavior. That has come in handy because he works with Emotional Behavioral Disability students at John Hardin High School.
“I treat them like they are my kids,” he said, adding he wants them to feel free to talk to him about issues.
Positive Approach for Student Success is the program he uses. He observes students on the case load and if they aren’t getting the material in their regular classroom, he can pull them out into his classroom to help them get on track. He also does a lot of paperwork to track what causes certain reactions.
Emotional Behavioral Disability kids can get angry quickly, he said.
But he loves what he does and said he’ll keep doing it as long as he’s still having fun.
Many of his former students still stop by to see him.
“It’s all about the relationship you have with the students,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re helping to make good people.”
John Hardin Principal Mark Wells called Moritz a “tremendous teacher.”
Along with teaching at the school, Moritz coaches archery and bowling. For archery practice, sometimes he’s at the school by 6 a.m. and some days he’s there until 9 p.m.
“He spends countless hours outside of school planning, preparing and coaching for both archery and bowling,” Wells said. “Bowling and archery at John Hardin have grown tremendously through his leadership and given many students opportunities they would not have had if it weren’t for these programs.”
Wells said Moritz is the type of teacher and coach that goes above and beyond and Wells appreciates his willingness to help.
“He has impacted many, many students in a positive way and I’m thankful to have him as part of our John Hardin High School staff,” he said.
Moritz, 66, works in the classroom with Lisa Akin and he said working with her is what makes his job easier.
“He is a great person to work with and he always looks out for our students best interest,” Akin said.
She said he spends a lot of time helping with student activities at school.
“Bottom line is, he’s a great overall person,” Akin said.
Along with teaching high school students, Moritz has been an Kentucky High School Athletic Association official for 20 years. He has officiated basketball, football, baseball and softball.
“I have been yelled at more than once or twice in my life,” he said of officiating.
He enjoys baseball and softball the most and does the regional assignments for softball officials.
“Each of the sports takes a different muscle set,” he said, adding he has to keep up with the players.
He doesn’t like to throw anyone out of a game and prides himself on only throwing one coach out of a game in 20 years of officiating.
“I enjoy officiating because it’s a way I can keep up with the sports and the kids playing,” he said.
Assistant Principal Kim Case called Moritz “the Energizer Bunny.”
“He is one of the first at school each day. He is one of the last to leave many days,” she said. “If he isn’t spending his evenings dedicated to archery or bowling, he is at a field or ballpark officiating high school football, baseball or softball and I don’t see how he does it all, but he does.”
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