Coach Hayley Sefton, also known as “Sefton” or “ Hayley,” is the freshmen PE teacher. She also happens to be the only teacher to have every student go through her class. Sefton has been teaching Freshman PE for three years now and admits she, “wouldn’t want to leave them.”

So what makes Sefton “Sefton”? How does she live each day positively and maintain sanity after spending all day teaching freshmen and then dealing with 40 teenage girl soccer players for two hours after school?

“Well, after I hit my alarm about three times, I wake up probably around 6:45. My first class is teaching the freshmen at eight,” Sefton said.

Sefton teaches four PE classes. A gym full of 14 and 15-year-olds? This job is not for the faint of heart. Sefton hopes to teach them many lessons of physical and mental well-being.

“Hopefully I teach them that lifelong fitness is important, to be good teammates, and that PE is fun, but you can still learn something while you’re still here,” Sefton said. “I want to teach them how to weightlift, considering a lot of them have never weight lifted before.”

Sefton is known to be a sarcastic, relatable teacher.  Whether in her office, the lounge, or the gym, she is often surrounded by students who stopped by just to talk.

“She’s really funny and she always makes us laugh,” freshman Delaney Fitzgerald said. “Sometimes she’ll get really serious and yell at us, but we know it’s all for fun. She’s a really good teacher.” Fitzgerald is in Sefton’s 12 o’clock PE class.

Sefton is not the kind of teacher to sit on the sidelines. She joins the fray when her students play games.

“I love matball, LOVE IT. I’m always the pitcher,” Sefton said. “At the end I am sweating buckets, I could have a full parka on for all I care, I’ll still play. I love that game it’s my favorite, hands down.”

Sefton is never short of inspiration for her students, and you can often hear them quoting some of her favorite phrases.

“The most inspiring thing Hayley has ever said to our class is ‘sit still’,” Fitzgerald said with her own sarcasm. “She says it a lot to us. She is also known for her famous saying, ‘freaking A’. It’s catchy and no one really knows what it means, but it’s funny.”

It’s true, the famous Sefton saying, “freaking A” is a well-known (yet unknown) saying that every student has heard at least once in their time in Sefton’s class. This saying is heard even more frequently during springtime as a celebratory phrase, because, according to Sefton spring means soccer.

Over the years, the girls soccer program has grown in numbers and talent. Sefton has taken players who have never set foot on a field, and turned them into varsity player. She has also coached athletes for the duration of their high school soccer careers.

“I’ve known Hayley through soccer for four years now,” senior Piper Schuring said. “I’m waiting for senior night for her words of wisdom.”