As a member of the Lawrence County High School math department and one of the varsity football coaches, Coach Henry Ford has positively impacted the majority of LCHS students. His rigorous courses challenge students to work hard in everything from trigonometry to preparing for the ACT. Due to his dedication to his career, Coach Ford is this week’s Red Devil Dynamo.
Many events in Coach Ford’s life led him to a career in education. He received an associate’s degree in pre-engineering and spent a semester in the fourth nationally ranked architecture program in the nation. “Lack of finances and boredom brought me back closer to home,” he said. “Some students that I was tutoring convinced me that I might be good at teaching. The rest is history, or in my case math and science.” Although Coach Ford didn’t set out to be a teacher from the beginning, he has proven to be an innovative and dedicated educator.
Coach Ford’s favorite part of his past thirty years at Lawrence County has been seeing students learn and grow, both in his math classes and on the football field. “In the classroom, seeing student’s progress in knowledge throughout the year or years is my favorite part of teaching. In athletics, it’s seeing physical growth and leadership skills develop.” Students appreciate the work Coach Ford does that allows them to be successful. “Coach Ford has taught me various ways to solve problems,” says sophomore Skye Letson. “Even though I’m taking his class virtually, he is still very helpful. Having him as a teacher has made algebra way less stressful.”
If Coach Ford had to pick one word to describe a typical day in his life, it would be busy. He teaches four or more different subjects every year. As stressful as that sounds, he says teaching multiple topics is something he prefers. “It is a lot of extra preparation and grading, but the trade out is that I usually have the top students in the school,” he said. “I also get bored easily, so having different subjects helps me to stay focused.”
Students who attended Moulton Middle School were also taught math under Mrs. Andea Ford, Coach Ford’s wife of thirty years. Together they have three children, all of which attended and played sports for Lawrence County High School. “Kristin has a degree in Physical Therapy from UAB. Emerald will soon finish Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State. Nathan is a Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Alabama,” he said. “Which college team do I cheer for? The three that gave my children scholarships!”
Coach Ford’s impressive career has impacted generations of Lawrence County individuals. He has this bit of advice for both his past and current students: “Don’t let someone else define who you have the opportunity to become. Stay away from negative people, unless you are talking about Covid. Then stay away from positive people.”
By: Baylee Willingham, staff writer
LCHS Red Hot News Network 