As One Door Closes, Another Door Opens
By: Jacob Sickles
As the school year comes to an end, the word about teachers retiring is coming out. So far at Urbandale High School, there have been 3 teachers/coaches who have announced their retirement.
The first person to announce was strength and condition coach and long time football head coach Mr. Anderson. After announcing that he was resigning from the head coach position, he quickly announced that he would retire after this school year. Anderson spent 20 years as the Urbandale head coach and in February of 2024, he would be a recipient of the IHSAA Character Counts Coach of the Year. He would even help send the first J Hawk to the NFL, Allen Lazard. Overall he led the J-Hawks to 17 playoff appearances and had a 171-125 record.
Next it was strength and conditioning and long time wrestling coach, Mr. Moreno. Just a few days after Anderson announced his retirement, Moreno announced his. Moreno coached Urbandale wrestling for 19 years. Moreno has sent many kids to state tournaments and onto college in his amazing coaching time.
Lastly, the chemistry, environmental science and head cross country coach, Mr. Hammerand. Just like Moreno, Hammerand announced his retirement quickly after the person before him did. Hammerand coached cross country for 12 years, sending multiple students to the state tournament.
At Urbandale High School, we will like to thank these teachers for everything they’ve done, between coaching and teaching. These teachers have taught for over 100 years here at Urbandale combined. Congratulations on your retirement!
