At Boerne High School, the football coach pushes his students as hard in the classroom as he does on the field.
That drive for excellence helped earn Nick Dovzak the KENS 5 SACU Golden Apple ExCEL Award.
In his biology and chemistry classes, Dovzak teaches scientific methods. But his goal for each student is to learn this life skill.
"My job is to make sure they have the ability to say here's my problem, how do I gather resources so I can solve it. Hopefully in here they'll learn the skills to solve problems in life. Solving problems is what science is about," said Dovzak.
He's helped tenth grade student Shay Ruiz develop problem solving skills.
"At first I was frustrated but he's explained to where I can understand it more," Ruiz said.
Both in the classroom and as the football and soccer coach, Dovzak inspires his students to work to their highest potential.
"He pushes you. He likes to push you.. If you don't do it right you gotta do it again. I feel good about that. To be champions that's how you got to do it," said Nathan Carnevali, a tenth grader who has Coach Dovzak as a chemistry teacher and a football coach.
"One thing in life is you can work your tail off and you can always try. We're not the smartest fastest, strongest, but you have the ability to try and we have the ability to work hard and that's what I try to instill in them said Dovzak.
As the science department chair, science club sponsor, coach and more, Nick Dovzak exemplifies that philosophy by example.
