Besides studying during college, English teacher Julianne Crockett played ultimate frisbee professionally, beginning with the Women’s Professional League. She was on a professional team while attending Truman State University, and continues playing in local teams today.

“I founded the St. Louis women’s team, Stellar, in 2018, and I’ve been playing with them ever since,” Crockett said. 

Ultimate frisbee is a stamina and agility based sport, but it requires a tremendous amount of training. Conditioning is a vital and demanding part of the sport. 

“To train for the tournament style, you have practice three days a week,” Crockett said. “And then on top of that, you do conditioning workouts and you do weightlifting workouts. And then you do throwing practices outside of practice as well. So it’s pretty much every day [that] you’re training in some way.”

Besides the physical demand of ultimate frisbee, players must be good communicators. A couple words from a teammate could determine a win or loss. 

“Whether you’re on offense and you’re trying to communicate to your teammates, or you’re on defense and you’re trying to stop the other team from scoring, you have to communicate and you have to do it very effectively,” Crockett said. “Communication is really key to success.”

Most of math teacher Jamie Gavril’s students see her in room 3309 teaching Geometry, Algebra I or Algebra II. However, when she’s not at school, one could likely find her in the stables. 

Gavril first started horseback riding when she was 9-years-old. She only participated in small shows at her farm until college. 

“[My farm] would host a little show, and then in college I specifically went to Indiana University to compete on the equestrian team,” Gavril said. “It has its own circuit called Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. We had 10 competitions per year, and then you could advance onto things like regionals and nationals. I did go to regionals twice.”

Throughout those competitions, Gavril managed to place several times.

“I actually don’t think I ever won a blue ribbon with [my horse Tyler] but we got lots of second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth,” Gavril said. “The horse that I rode for my friend had a couple blue ribbons, but I’ve also had a show where I didn’t place with them.”

Horseback riding is more than the competition itself, it requires a connection between the horse and the owner. Owners are responsible for their horse’s medical needs, housing and food, which makes the sport more expensive.

“I was super privileged that I even got to step foot [in the stables] and take a lesson,” Gavril said. “But when you look around and you’re comparing yourself to someone whose parents bought them three horses and they’re top of the line, it changes your perspective, [because] you have to work for everything.”