ALUMNI MATTERS

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ALUMNI MATTERS

• UPCOMING REUNIONS
• c/o 1998 Homecoming 2008
• Amanda Levi princesslevi79_at_yahoo.com
• The class of 1958 is starting to plan their next
  reunion. Check out the details at
  www.chambleeclassof58.com
• The class of 1988 will hold their reunion on
  October 4th at the Renaissance Hotel/downtown.
  For more informationwww.chs1988reunion.myevent.co
  m
• ORMissy Childress Melissa.Auck_at_latrobesteel.com
• J Max Davis II jmaxlaw_at_hotmail.com
• Planning a reunion? Want to tour the
• old school? Contact Steve Rubino (c/o 73)
• stephen_j_rubino_at_fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us

• DIDUNO?
• CHS has the following championships?
• Boys Soccer 2008
• Boys CC 1986
• Girls CC 1981
• Boys Track 1954, 60, 64
• Wrestling 1974, 79
• Boys Tennis 1998
• Scroll downCoach Rains speaks out!!

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Coach Rains Speaks Out
By Becky Winkler c/o 95

• February 2, 2008
•  
• Thank you so much, Coach Rains, for taking the
  time to speak with me today. I really appreciate
  it and so will others once they read this
  article. You influenced many students in a
  positive way during your time at CHS, and this
  article is one way to give tribute to you and
  recognize the contributions you made to so many
  of our lives.
• BW Give me a thumbnail sketch of your
  background and how you came to be a teacher. Was
  teaching something you always wanted to do?
•  
• CR I grew up in a little town called Clinton in
  Tennessee right above Oak Ridge. My dad worked
  in the plants of Oak Ridge. I was born in 1942
  and thats when they were building the bomb. It
  was very secretive. The government took our
  family property away from us to enclose the whole
  city of Oak Ridge to build that bomb.

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My oldest brother was a high school coach in
Kentucky. I used to spend the summers with him
I played ball in college and had a job in the
summer on a horse racing track. Id work out
with his team during that time. I got attracted
to the coaching side of it. When I had to
declare a major, I decided to major in PE and
become a high school coach. Then I got a
masters degree in secondary education/administrat
ion, because it was easier to stay on and coach a
year, get the experience in coaching while they
paid for it. It would have taken me 4-5 years to
get a masters degree while teaching full-time,
so they paid me as a graduate assistant to coach.
I also taught two PE classes while I did that,
and sold insurance, managed ball fields, and was
a dorm counselor. I had 4 jobs at one time while
I was getting my masters. Im the eighth kid in
a family of eight and knew my parents couldnt
afford the tuition.     BW Tell me about your
time at Chamblee. What year did you start
teaching? What classes did you teach? What
sports did you coach? What activities were you
involved in?   CR I started in 1966 and I
taught PE and health. I started as a football
and track coach. After two years, we started the
first soccer program in DeKalb County. We played
Westminster, Lovett, and the private schools
because none of the public schools had soccer.
Finally, the professional soccer team came to
Atlanta. We invited those guys to come and teach
clinics so we could really learn how to teach
soccer. They did that for free. Then, when we
really got sophisticated and others finally had a
soccer program, we were ahead of the game. I
coached soccer for 25 years. I enjoyed it more
than anything. I coached basketball, football,
soccer, track, and baseball. I did Fellowship
Christian Athletes (FCA) for 17 years. I was a
senior sponsor for 12 years where youre
responsible for graduation and baccalaureate, and
you make sure people get their paperwork in so
they can graduate. We set up the services, got
everything done and organized. We made sure the
caps, gowns, and rings were ordered. I did some
mentoring and counseling on some kids who didnt
want to do the paperwork to go to college. Id
kick them in the rear to get their paperwork
done.
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BW What did you enjoy most about being a
teacher?   CR The kids. Just fun. It wasnt
like working. Ive never worked a day in my life
to be honest with you. Ive played every day of
my life. In PE, you go out and play softball,
walk the track, and play dodge ball. Ive played
all my life. If I had to work for a living, Id
really be in trouble. You might as well do
something you enjoy thats fun. I mean, why get
stressed out? Other than some sorry kids youd
have every once in awhile but thats part of the
game. I got talked into teaching bonehead math.
All the guys who have flunked it at least twice.
The teacher didnt want the challenge. I think
its probably more of a glorified acceleration
program to get them out of school quicker. You
teach them how to finance a home, how to buy a
car, how to balance a checkbook, that kind of
thing. Its basic math skills. What are you
going to teach an 18 year old guy who comes to
school for a free breakfast, free lunch, and to
date all the girls. If you dont know how to
make a life, youre whistling Dixie.     BW
What did you enjoy the least about being a
teacher?   CR Screaming parents. Can I just
tell you a little synopsis about it? A parent
that has a child that has an 80 IQ but they want
them to be a brain surgeon and go to Emory. The
kid has a D- average, and the parent thinks its
my problem. Or the 165 pound guard in football
whose parent wants them to join the NFL league
and its my fault the kid isnt Herschel Walker.
But the bus patrol and busy work thats just
the job of every teacher.   Teaching is an
honorable profession. You get to make a
difference in kids lives. Some people are
called to it. You cant do it for the money or
because you have free time. If youre teaching a
subject, youre going to work a lot at home at
night. That comes with the territory. Its a
fact of life. It was nothing for me, during the
season, to work 80 hour weeks because youre
working 7 days a week. It didnt hurt me. It
kept me young and put my attitude in check. Id
probably be a different guy if I got to stay home
with my wife and had the usual routine. BW Did
the experience of teaching change for you across
time? If so, how?   CR I sort of look at it in
thirds. The first third I had to learn how to
teach, motivate, and get along with people. They
dont teach you that in college. They teach you
theory and methods but for me to have a
relationship with a kid, to have compassion on
him because hes from a family of eight and
working part-time and sleeps through first period
in my class and has no daddy. Am I just going to
kick him around and flunk him because he worked
till one in the morning? It took me the first
third to understand theres more to kids lives
than you can understand.
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The second third I was jacked up and had an ego
because I was the head coach. Your ego gets in
the way.   The final third, I had a ministry of
helping people. If they were my own kids, how
would I treat them? And theyre looking for
somebody to help them. Youre in the helping
profession. I wish I had learned the last third
in the first third because Id be a better
teacher and a better person. Because once you
get 10 years into teaching, youre almost stuck.
You cant do much else because your pay is up
there and you have to start back down there if
you start a different career and you cant afford
it. You either have to conform to the system and
make the best of it, or find some sugar daddy,
one of your former players who is the CEO and
youre going to cry on his wifes shoulders
begging for mercy. But you know whats funny now
that Ive been out for a while and go back to the
reunions? I hear the stories and what I said. I
cant believe I said some of the things I said.
They dont remember what Ms. Jones said in the
math department but as coach, they remember every
word I said. Thats good if you said things good
and right but if you used language you didnt
need to use, theyll remember that too.   Ive
always had the philosophy of coaching that its
my job to get you to do what you wouldnt do on
your own, to be better than you are, to reach up
there higher than you would ever achieve on your
own. Thats what they paid me to do. Some
people do it by kicking them in the rear, or by
putting their arm around them, or by putting it
into words, by persuasion. You have to use each
of those methods at different times, because
people are different. It makes life simpler and
easier for you if you know how to do that. You
dont offend too many people but sometimes you
use the wrong strategy on someone who youre
kicking and they need the hug or vice versa. I
loved coaching girls soccer. They were good
students, always nice, always took what you said
and tried to apply it. It was a lot of fun. It
scared me to death to coach the girls, because we
had to find a coach to take care of the guys. We
didnt have one. But it was the best move I ever
made. We had a lot of fun. We won as much as we
were capable of winning. We didnt have but 2-3
club players. Most were seasonal players. But
we went to the playoffs just about every year.
  BW What is your most memorable experience at
CHS? CR When I had a student get killed that
I was close to. It hurt me. Because when you
spend more time with a student than their parents
do, its almost like another child you have. You
get to know them deeply. It just hurt me.  
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Another experience was when I had coached for 4
years, and we had a coach die on the sidelines.
I was the guy who took over for him that night
and I had to tell his family. Gene Goff, he had
a wife and three daughters. That was a hard
time. The same weekend he died was the same
weekend we had a boy die on his way home to the
coachs funeral, and I had to go be with his
parents. The hardest time I had was a boy
drafted to the Atlanta Falcons when he had a
wreck and his mother called me to come to the
hospital and be with her to make the decision
about pulling the plug. And he was like a son to
me. Andy Spiva. He was the hardest working kid,
good kid, probably one of the best players who
was ever at Chamblee. That hurt me and really
took a lot out of me.     BW Do certain
classes or students stand out in your memory?
What is it about those classes/students that made
them more memorable?   CR Uh, lets see. Not
really. Probably the best time we had in soccer
was the class that had Page Coley. We had three
girls that year who were all-star girls. One
went to the UNC Greensboro and played soccer
there. One went to Charleston and played there
and got her degree. Page went to UNC and played
in four national championships. She was a great
player. But that was sort of early on in my time
of coaching girls soccer. So I thought I was a
pretty good coach until after she left.     BW
I remember my involvement with you through
Fellowship Christian Athletes (FCA). Now, we
hear so much about prayer in the schools being a
controversial issue, but I dont remember the
presence of any controversy when I was a member
of that club. Did you experience any pushback
from the administration or other parents as the
topic of religion in schools became increasingly
politicized?   CR One time. We had one
complaint from one faculty member about us making
announcements. I told him Ill not go against
your authority and not get you in trouble. Well
make it on our own and make it word of mouth. We
never had a problem. Using word of mouth, we had
more kids show up than we had when we were making
announcements. BW How do you want to be
remembered by students?   CR As a fun-loving
guy who taught you about good things in life.
What I taught - PE and math - it wasnt rocket
science. And you know, hopefully I cared about
you. And inspired you. But youll probably go
home and tell your husband that Im an old fart.
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BW When did you retire?   CR 1995     BW
What have you been doing since?   CR Real
estate. Commercial real estate. And playing
golf. Im the part-owner of a golf course now.
The Hooch in Duluth. So I get to play a lot.
Its a good one. Very popular. About every
quarter I take a good golf trip somewhere, play
for four to five days in Myrtle Beach or Florida.
Im going to Amelia Islands in five days.
    BW What advice would you give your former
students who might be reading this article?
  CR Finish the drill. You know what that
means? Just keep going and finish what you
started. If youre running 40 yard sprints run
45, 2 for me and 3 for you. Finish the drill is
my slogan nowadays. Dont quit and dont give
up. Keep plugging along. Perseverance will take
you to heights youve never dreamed. Athletics
teaches you that finish what you say youre
going to do. Finish, keep going. Sometimes the
hard things, you have to continue. Persevere and
good things come to you. I could have quit when
I retired but I wanted a second career. Im
going to use this energy, Im a young guy and Im
going to keep working. Now Ive done some things
Ive always wanted to do in my life. 1- Ive
always wanted to own a golf course and 2- Ive
wanted to make more money than a coachs salary.
(laughs)   Now Im also going to the Atlanta
Union Mission on a regular basis to speak to the
homeless people who are there and trying to get
back on their feet. Many of them are high school
athletes, so I already speak their language.
Thats what I say to them finish the drill.
Most of them are on a 12-step program and I tell
them to finish the program and not give up. The
other day, I saw an old Chamblee high school
athlete, a woman who had three kids. Her mother
had died and her husband had left her. She
didnt have the skills she needed. She saw me
and she was so ashamed. Then, after I spoke, she
came up to me and gave me a big hug with tears in
her eyes. Its the perfect use of my skills.