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Words Cost Nothing

Adan Rodriguez
University of Saint Mary

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When you choose to be a coach or mentor you are choosing to invest in our future.
Coaching and mentoring our educators who are teaching the future of our country is vital.
Witnessing the success of students provides a satisfaction like no other. For my coaching
experience I have had the opportunity to coach and mentor a young Sergeant through his first
deployment. Since the deployment spans nine months it allows for a wide range of tasks to
coach through. The two goals that were set for Sergeant Perry were to improve his physical
fitness in order to obtain more promotion points from his Army Physical Fitness Test. The other
goal was to coach and mentor him as he prepares to attend the promotion board to Staff Sergeant.
I have previous coaching experience from coaching youth football teams. I have always
enjoyed grooming my subordinates to be successful. Focusing on coaching Soldiers was a
perfect fit for me. It allowed me to grow as a leader while assisting other achieve their
maximum potential. My educational setting was a little larger than normal. I did not have the
opportunity to coach or mentor in a traditional school. However, I did have the opportunity to
coach my soldiers through an operation that spanned seven different countries. When we left our
home station we lost several seasoned Non Commissioned Officers who served as the backbone
of the material readiness section. Our section leader and I quickly recognized the need to coach
and mentor the younger soldiers in order to have a successful deployment.
After my initial conversation with SGT Perry I realized that I had not truly mentored or
coached a soldier and gave it my 100 percent. Taking this opportunity to help SGT Perry and
myself provided a great opportunity to grow as a leader in the Army. Initially I thought that it
was going to be a difficult process because I was not in a traditional classroom. After conducting
my analysis coaching and mentoring is a way a life. Once you establish the fundamentals of

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coaching you can apply them through a wide spectrum. As we moved through our
predeployment operations the time really accelerated and we quickly found ourselves in the
desert. Once we begin our operations in Kuwait SGT Perry displayed excellent initiative in
order to meet our time line. Within the first couple of days SGT Perry was already studying for
the board. This made it a great experience for me because he was willing to put forth an effort in
making himself better. When you have students or athletes that are not coachable it can be
difficult for everyone.
Coaching and mentoring are only a part of what it takes to make your students successful. You
have to provide motivation to keep them going through the difficult times. I think that SGT
Perry will leave this deployment a better soldier. But most importantly he will leave a better
person. SGT Perry will leave with the necessary skills to be successful in the Army or the
civilian sector. Success is measured by different standards when you are in the military. Safety
is always the number one concern. We have only been on ground for about two weeks and have
experienced a tragedy. Making an impact to the lives of these soldiers is what matters. Bringing
some relief to them, with a simple conversation can change their life. Currently it seems that we
are disconnected from each other and can not seem to bridge that connection that once existed.
The first contextual area for USMs conceptual frame for graduate programs is
continuous assessment and improvement aimed at changing schools, organizations, and
society. Caveating that we need to teach, coach, mentor the younger generation to improve the
organization. Ensuring a generation of resilient people who can overcome a challenge and be
successful. The bend but do not break concepts is a great fit. Every action has a beginning,
identifying a problem or a challenge that needs to be improved. Secondly conducting scholarly
research to back your practical argument. Once your research has been conducted you create an

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action plan with established outcomes. When you are ready to implement your action plan you
evaluate and collect artifacts and data for your measureable outcomes. After your collection of
data is complete reflecting on your work is important. Being able to identify the impact you had
on the learning will keep you motivated for future action research projects. Thus ensuring the
cycle is continuous.
Action researchs connection to the NBPTS core propositions standards are clearly
defined. NBPTS first standard is teachers are committed to students and their learning. This
standard is the reason why we as educators conduct action research. Enhancing the students
learning and improving the organization are the overall goals. Standard four of the NBPTS
resonates with teachers thing systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
There is only one way to learn, and that is by practicing and perfecting your craft. This holds to
be true regardless of the profession or goal. An Olympian is not going to medal without any
practice. With that being said practice and effort are required. This is the same for students in
the classroom. You can be a great coach and teacher but if your students do not reciprocate your
effort then success is not likely.
The Graduate Program Outcomes (GPO) dispositions are based on action research. The
GPOs that directly correlated to my action research were providing leadership in shaping
change within the learning communities and fulfilling professional responsibilities with
honesty and integrity. Providing leadership to SGT Perry and the other soldiers in our section is
not only something that Im obligated to do, but something that I wanted to do. Shared successes
are the best ones. When you reflect back on your life you will know that you made a positive
impact with the people around you. Being a Soldier requires you not only to be lethal but ethical

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and moral. There are fine lines that are often burred within our scope of duty. Teaching and
coaching from experience will allow for your knowledge to be passed along after you are gone.
We often want to take credit for the successes of others. We are quick to stake our part in
a winning team. I had a conversation with a young soldier who was from the same company as
the soldier who committed suicide. As I looked upon his face despair and emptiness is what I
saw. His once bright eyes were dimmed and glazed. He felt like a failure and found it difficult
to have a conversation. There was no success in his eyes. There was no winning team just
reminisces of a young man whose life will forever be impacted. So to my fellow educators and
coaches go out there and coach and mentor because you will never know when you can save a
life just with some simple words. Words cost nothing and can have a lasting impact.