DOUBLE LIFE

DOUBLE LIFE DOUBLE LIFE

Teachers by day; musicians, videographers, entrepreneurs and more by night. Learn about the passions and jobs staff members pursue when they’re not at West.

BY JANE LAM & KATHERINE SHOPPA

ART & DESIGN BY HELEN ORSZULA

GREG YODER

PHOTO BY OWEN AANESTAD

If you have ever been to a Hawkeye sporting event, you may have seen the camera work of Guidance Counselor Greg Yoder. Yoder is a camera operator for HawkVision, a program that provides live big-screen coverage at University of Iowa sporting events. He has spent 24 years covering football as well as 15 years filming at basketball, volleyball and gymnastics events. Filming has brought Yoder a deeper appreciation for athletes’ hard work and the energy of fellow sports fans.

“There’s 70,000 people in attendance [at football games], and just the amount of enthusiasm and electricity in the air is pretty cool,” Yoder said.

JON BACH

PHOTO COURTESY OF JON BACH

Four years ago, math teacher Jon Bach started a lawn-mowing business to help his nephew make money over the summer. Now, Bach continues to mow about 25 lawns consistently each summer, with the largest lawn taking two hours and 15 minutes to complete. On days when Bach uses his riding mower, one might see him driving it from the Weber area to Walnut Ridge going seven miles per hour.

Bach’s other summer jobs include painting houses, staining decks and teaching advanced math courses at the University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center.

MATT HARDING

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT HARDING

Outside of the classroom and off of the soccer field, science teacher and soccer coach Matt Harding applies his physics knowledge to repair vintage pinball machines. Over the course of 15 years, his repair work has ended up in Paris, the East Coast and around the Midwest.

“It’s very satisfying when something works that didn’t work … A fair bit of my repair knowledge is based on magic and good luck,” Harding said.

Harding has also played electric guitar since he was in high school; he currently plays in the band Plastic Relations along with English teacher Nate Frese. Recent shows have included a fundraiser for the Domestic Violence Intervention Program and Willowwind Elementary’s 50th-anniversary celebration.

HOLLY ROBINSON

PHOTO BY SPC. JESSICA M. LOPEZ

From teaching students to drilling water wells, social studies teacher Holly Robinson does it all. When she’s not at West, Robinson serves as a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy Reserve. She specializes as a steelworker for the Seabees, the Navy’s construction battalion, in which she supervises welding activities for the Navy.

Since enlisting in 2006, this work has taken her all over the world and given her an opportunity to embrace her love of photography. Robinson occasionally handles public affairs for the Navy, which entails taking photos and writing documents.

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