Making every day count is something the Burgess’ take to heart

​       Janel Burgess, varsity girls basketball coach and middle school teacher at Montezuma, gives the Bravettes instructions during a timeout in an earlier home game. Janel has led the Bravettes for seven years, taking them to state five times. She said her goal in life is to teach and mentor students to give their best every day in the classroom, in sports competitions and in life. Her husband, Tim, the Montezuma athletic director and volunteer coach with the Bravettes, is in the background.

By J.O. Parker
 
      Teaching, building relationships and mentoring Montezuma students to give their best in the classroom, in athletic competitions and in life are things that Tim and Janel Burgess take to heart.
      The couple, who are in their seventh year teaching and coaching young people at Montezuma, work hard to make every day count for the students.
      Janel teaches middle school math and coaches high school girls’ basketball. Tim, who is known as TB, is the Montezuma activities director, school facilitator and volunteer coach for the Bravettes basketball team with Janel.
    When asked what they love and enjoy the most about their jobs, Janel said the opportunity to impact the lives of young people daily.
    “We get to watch them mature and learn from the classroom and within the sports world,” she said.
     Tim agreed, saying seeing students succeed in any area of their life, regardless of whether it’s in a classroom, an activity or athletic competition, is important to him and Janel.
     “I think it’s a privilege to be a part of mentoring kids as they grow throughout their years at Montezuma,” he said.
     When asked what they like about being in Montezuma and working with youth in the school, Janel said all she has ever wanted to do was lead young people to be their best.
      “That is what I get to do each day,” she said. “I wake up and know my goal is to impact people. We see students in all walks of life and I just hope each one of my students know we love being part of their life.”
     “Personally, I think what I like most about being in Montezuma and working with our students is our parent and community support,” added Tim. “It was something I noticed right away and appreciated beyond words. I tell people all of the time, Montezuma is a truly special place.”
     Janel, a native of Millersburg and former Deep River-Millersburg (DR-M) student, is a 1994 graduate of Montezuma where she played basketball for the Bravettes her junior and senior years. She went on to enjoy a stellar career playing basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones, graduating with a teaching degree in 1998.
​      She spent a brief stint at the University of Northern Illinois before landing at the University of Maine and serving alongside then head coach Joanne McCallie. Janel followed McCallie to Michigan State before accepting an assistant coaching position at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) in Springfield. She then returned to Michigan in 2007 and took over the women’s coaching position at Grand Valley State University in Allendale. During her eight year tenure at GVSU, Janel took the Lakers to the NCAA Division II Tournament twice. 
      It was at Michigan State where Janel and Tim first met in 2001.
     Janel was running a JV girls summer camp that year at Michigan State and Tim, a local high school coach, was working the camp as a volunteer coach.
     “He will tell you, he did not want to work the camp, but we are both glad he did,” Janel said with a chuckle. “He was a coach at the time and I was in need of employees.”
     “I knew of her only because she was running the camp,” added Tim. “I actually remember being on a date early on and using salt and pepper baggies to ‘draw up plays.’ Coaching was always part of our relationship, even from the beginning.”
      Tim is a native of Mason, Mich., a town about the size of Williamsburg and a graduate of Mason High School. He spent two years at Adrian College before transferring to Michigan State University where he earned an elementary teaching degree. He went on to earn a special education degree from Grand Valley State University.
      The couple has two children, Eddie, a sophomore at Upper Iowa University where he plays football and is following in his parent’s footsteps and earning a teaching degree. And Sydnee, a freshman at Montezuma.
       Janel said it was Tim who lead the charge to return to her home state of Iowa. At the time, Tim had been a stay at home dad for five years while Janel was coaching collegiately and was gone a lot. Eddie was going to be a sixth grader and Sydnee was going to be a first grader.
      “He was looking ahead and saw our children were growing up fast,” recalled Janel. “He knew we wanted to be involved in our kids’ lives therefore a move was needed. It was a very hard decision but we are both glad we abruptly changed our professional goals to come to Iowa.”
      They couple returned to Iowa in 2015 and moved into Janel’s grandparent’s home. They spent a brief time at Williamsburg before making the move to Montezuma in 2017.
     When asked how they inspire young people to be their best, Janel said building relationships with the students and student athletes they interact with on a daily basis.
     “Our goal is to make sure young people know they can trust us and they know we have
their best interest in mind,” said Janel. “I believe our “kids” know we care about them first so when we have high expectations for them, they are able to rise within the classroom and in all their activities.”
     “I agree,” said Tim. “It always starts with relationships. When you are dealing with students or even people in general, it starts there. If you listen to interviews about successful teams, programs, businesses, etc., you will find strong and positive relationships somewhere along the way.”
     When asked about the importance of coaching youth at a young age, Janel said she and Tim have a much different view of youth sports than most.
      “I believe youth sports are great but there is no need to force children to be involved if they do not want to,” said Janel.
     For example, Janel said Eddie’s first organized youth sport was soccer in the third grade and Sydnee didn’t start youth sports until the third grade as well.
      “We wanted our kids to enjoy what they did and not do too much,” added Janel. “We had seen youth sports be over done through our other walks of life.”
      Janel, who is coaching a youth basketball program alongside coach Greg Long, said the main focus is on building skills with three or four tournaments each winter.
     “Our goal through youth sports is to enjoy everything because in a small school, we need all kids to do all activities in order for us all to be successful.”
     Tim added that when their children showed interest in something, they worked to make it happen for them but the moment they wanted to be done, it was over.
       “Janel and I were both very blessed with supportive and hard working parents who were good role models,” noted Tim. “We were both able to compete and have great experiences as we grew up. We want our kids to live their lives and do the things that make them happy. I don’t think there is a right or wrong philosophy to coaching youth or youth sports, but this was just how we chose to go about it with our kids.”
      When asked in what ways does the community impact the school and sports, Janel said she and Tim are truly blessed to have all different age groups at Montezuma supported in all the activities from sports to musicals, FFA, speech and drama and most importantly, the classroom.
      “Personally, I think a community has a direct impact on the values, behaviors and success of students in every way,” added Tim. “Take a look at the success our students have academically, or from our extra-curriculars, it’s very clear what a truly special place Montezuma is. Teachers, coaches, students, parents and our Montezuma community are all intertwined in the success our school has. I am thankful every day to be a part of it.”

​      Tim Burgess, the Montezuma athletic director, school facilitator and volunteer coach for the Bravettes basketball team with Janel, yells directions from the sidelines in a Braves football game last fall. The couple met at Michigan State at a basketball camp that Janel was running in 2001. Tim has since stepped down from coaching football to focus his attention on the couple’s daughter, Sydnee, a freshman at Montezuma. Their son, Eddie, plays football at Upper Iowa University where he is studying elementary education.