Thirty years ago, Jim Everin stepped onto the campus of Dolores High School wearing his trademark shorts and tennis shoes as the physical education teacher.
He made students run, lift weights and taught them to stay active
On Friday, May 25, the last day of school before summer break, Everin will teach his last P.E. class at the school where he's taught for the past 30 years.
The 54-year-old first stepped onto the DHS campus in 1982. The biggest change he's seen in his 30 years was the addition of the auxiliary gym.
Prior to that addition, Everin remembers the middle school practicing at 6 a.m. in the morning.
“I remember driving around Dolores and picking up kids in the snow,” he said with a smile.
As a young student-athlete, Everin always had teaching in the back of his mind.
“I wanted to be a professional athlete and if I couldn't do that, I wanted to be a coach and teach P.E.,” Everin said.
And coach he has. Everin has coached the Bears baseball team for three decades, as well as handling the school's atheletic director duties for more than 25 years.
In the last 10 years, Everin's teams have been San Juan Basin League champions eight times. Last season, the team made it to the 2A state final four after beating Paonia to secure the regional title. The Paonia Eagles have long been a tormenting rival, especially in the postseason.
“Paonia has always been our nemesis,” Everin said.
In 2011, it was the Dolores Bears best season since a 1982 state championship appearance.
To spite of all the stress that comes with coaching and teaching, Everin looks remarkably like he hasn't aged in those 30 years.
What is his secret?
“As a P.E. teacher, you need to walk the walk and talk the talk,” he said. “You need to stay a step ahead of your students.”
Everin is often seen running with his students and weight lifting to teach proper technique.
Everin is a big advocate of lifting weights.
“Weight lifting is the building block of all sports,” he said. “You have to be strong.”
Everin, as a P.E. teacher, always worked to instill physical education into the minds of his students.
“It's about trying to find an activity they can do the rest of their lives, something they will make the time to do.”
And now retirement is the next chapter.
“I tell people, I have the rest of my life to figure it out,” he said. “I'm going to ride my four-wheeler and get in my boat and play for a while.”
Everin said he will miss a few things at the school.
“I'm going to miss the camaraderie with educators and the San Juan Basin League,” he said. “And, I've coached some terrific athletes in the 30 years from Dolores.”
Everin coached a slew of underclassmen on the baseball diamond this season. Despite all the youth and varsity inexperience, the Bears won another SJBL title to advance to the postseason.
Everin was named SJBL Coach of the Year in his final baseball season.
Not a bad way to end a career.