Chinook High Schools Doug Hayes ends 33-year teaching and coaching career

 

July 4, 2018

Doug and Carmaine Hayes share a laugh with colleagues at a retirement reception held for Doug in May. He retired after 33 years of teaching, 25 of those years in Chinook. The Snoopy-themed cake recognized Doug's long time fascination with the antics and philosophy of the "Peanuts" comic strip's characters, especially the beloved beagle, Snoopy.

Doug Hayes said his good-byes to Chinook School system colleagues at a retirement gathering at the end of school in May, then left immediately to lead a group to Washington, DC. Hayes started his teaching career in Froid, Montana, then joined the Chinook system in the fall of 1993. At retirement his career spanned a third of a century. Doug and Carmaine, his wife and high school sweetheart, were both teachers. They have four adult sons and seven grandchildren and, according to Doug, "Two more grand kids on the way later this year." Both he and Carmaine are looking forward to more visits with their adult children and grandchildren with the start of retirement

Plans to be an athletic trainer

Doug grew up in Stockett, Montana, about a half hour south of Great Falls. He and Carmaine, from the same area, graduated from high school in nearby Centerville. Doug told he was a three-sport athlete all four years of high school. He said, "I played every sport available at my high school and had some hope that I might be able to play college football." He loved sports but was unsure how that interest would work for his future.

He told about going to a "college day," one of those events where many college recruiters come and high school students can visit and learn about a lot of colleges at one time, at CMR High School in Great Falls. "I was just wandering around," Doug explained, "when a recruiter said to me, "Have you ever thought about majoring in sports medicine?"" Hayes said there was something about the 'sports' aspect that caught his interest.

Later, on a visit to Western Montana College (now University of Montana Western) in Dillon, Hayes learned more about the major in sports medicine. "Also, on that trip," he told, "a group of us wanting to enroll at Western went to see the football coach in his office. He looked at us, smiled, shook his head and told us we were "all too small for college ball."" That dashed the last glimmer of hope to play football in college. Doug said, "There were guys in that group way bigger than me. I knew there was no point thinking about playing college football."

When Doug attended Western, in the early 1980's, the head of the sports medicine program had worked as an assistant trainer for both the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, then head trainer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He left the National Football League because he never got to see his family because of travel.

Doug completed the academic program and was certified as an athletic trainer by the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA). To prepare for the certification testing he worked all four years at Western under a certified trainer, learning the practical skills of the job. He said, "The program required us to log 1500 hours as an intern, by the time I graduated I had 2300 hours."

Doug and Carmaine had agreed to "teach for five years, then start our family." They decided to get married while still in college and Doug explained, "By the time we reached the end of that five year plan we already had four sons." Like his mentor at Western, Doug didn't relish the idea of being away from his family and, he added, "I didn't like the idea of standing on the sidelines. I'd always been used to being a player, waiting on an injury to go into action didn't really fit my interests."

Because he was also certified to teach, Doug applied and was hired to teach at Froid, Montana. That summer, before he started teaching, he applied for and got a trainer's job with the Great Falls Voyagers, a minor leagues baseball team in Great Falls. He explained, "I looked at the schedule and saw I would still be with the baseball team about five days into my first teaching contract. I had to decline the trainer's position." The guy who took the trainer's job followed the team manager all the way to the major leagues.

First teaching job in Froid, fall 1985

He started teaching at Froid in the fall of 1985. He taught history and physical education to 7-12 graders and coached boys' basketball, volleyball and football. At Froid he was part of one of the first official co-ops approved by the Montana High School Association, a joint effort that allowed Froid students to play football with Medicine Lake. A nearby high school.

Hayes said, "I loved teaching at Froid. But my family and I were 400 miles from Carmain and my families. If we wanted to have our kids connected to grandparents we needed to move closer to Stockett."

He saw an opening in the Chinook School system. Doug said, "We knew Chinook because when traveling from Froid to see our parents we would take a break, in the summer, and the boys would put their feet in the wading pool, which wasn't fenced at the time." He applied and was hired.

Teaching at Chinook began in the fall of 1993

At first Doug taught 7-12 grade history and most of the physical education for both elementary and high school. He added, "This was a dream job after Froid. I went from seven preparations each day to basically two." With later declines in school enrollments and reductions in the number of teachers, Doug was back teaching in high school.

He continued his coaching activities. He did junior high football, junior high volleyball and, later, high school volleyball. Doug said, "I'd coached volleyball at Froid and thought I knew the game pretty well. At Chinook I worked as Paula Molyneaux's assistant and she really schooled me in how to coach volleyball." Hayes eventually ended up as the head volleyball coach and his teams won their state division in 2005 and 2006. He credits that success to what he learned from Paula Molyneaux. Hayes stopped coaching in high school in 2009. Later, he andCarmain jointly coached junior high track for a time.

Beyond the classroom and athletic field at Chinook

Doug Hayes may be best known in the community for the trips he leads to Washington, DC. His interest in traveling to the capitol city began in Froid when he led chaperoned groups for the Close Up Foundation. His first year at Chinook he took a Close Up group to DC and then decided, "I'd like to put my own trip together." And he did. Not only has he taken many students to DC but for the last several years also took adult groups.

Asked if he intended to keep doing the trips for adults, Hayes said, "Definitely." Then he added, "I'm getting some interest for additional trips to other areas." He's looking at a possible October, 2019 trip to New York, Boston and Philadelphia with a fall foliage tour segment. It appears there is still travel in his plans.

Looking back, Doug Hayes taught and coached for 33 years. Of his 25 years at Chinook he said, "It was enjoyable, it was a great ride. I always enjoyed teaching and loved my students. Coaching and teaching kept me young." He added, "Carmain and I are not leaving Chinook. We are well situated here to visit our kids and family in all directions."

The "Journal" wishes Doug and Carmain Hayes a great retirement and more fun with family and travel.

 
 

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