Eric Anderson never planned on going into teaching, but after more than 20 years in the field and a 15-month stint with ONEOK, the Ellsworth High School science teacher says sometimes the best plans are the ones that we didn’t intend to make.

With a lifelong interest in the sciences, Anderson said he had early aspirations of working for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Both of his parents were professors at Butler County Community College and Anderson had no interest in following in their footsteps.

“When I was younger I was always outside doing things, fishing, camping, hiking — things like that. It’s just always kind of stuck out to me from a young age,” he said. “It wasn’t until my junior year at Bethany College that I decided I wanted to be a teacher and a coach.”

Anderson said the decision came one evening after a night out with his friends playing basketball at the Baptist church in Lindsborg.

“The church would open up their gym that they had and you could pay 75 cents to play basketball, foosball and pool all night long,” he said. “We were down there playing and there was a young kid on the court and I was trying to get him involved. He was probably a junior [in high school] at that time and I was trying to get him involved, and he scored.”

Between games, someone from the church came over to Anderson and asked if he had ever considered going into teaching or coaching. Anderson said the question surprised him.

“I kind of looked at him and thought, ‘Man, you’re not serious; my parents were teachers. We were poor,’” he said. “But you know, after that I kind of started to see that light. That door opened for me and then that just kind of just changed all of a sudden after that night.”

Anderson said he prayed on the decision and switched his major, earning a degree in education with a concentration in science from Bethany. His first teaching job? Ellsworth High School

“I had intentions of being here just for a few years and then moving on, that was, you know, I didn’t really know a whole lot of people here,” he said.“I have family in the area from Lindsborg and Salina, and that was where I spent most of my time on the weekends and time off. And then, you know, I met my wife, Stacy, who’s from Ellsworth and we got married and that was kind of the end of me wanting to go anywhere else. It’s always been a good fit.”

Anderson, 45, began coaching the girls’ tennis team in 1999 and then the boys’ team in 2003. He also served as a basketball coach for several years.

But, teaching and coaching both come with their share of challenges.

While many may think teachers only work 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. days with weekends and summers off, Anderson said it’s not a job with set hours. He would often find himself working late nights and weekends to make sure the kids in his classroom or on his teams were thriving.

Eventually, he said he felt burnt out. Anderson stepped down from EHS and took a job with ONEOK as a plant operator. It was a new challenge and he enjoyed it, although he found himself missing holidays and family get-togethers due to a rotating shift.

Six months later, the teaching bug bit him again.

“I missed being around my students,” Anderson said. “I reached out to [Superintendent Dale Brungardt] and said,‘Hey, if there’s ever an opening, just kind of let me know and if you hear of anything from any other districts, let me know.’ And, and it just kind of happened that the guy that replaced me was moving back to his hometown to teach and I just slipped right back into where I was.”

Anderson was officially rehired for the 2019-20 school year and said his time away has made him a better teacher.

And although he spent 15 months away from the classroom, Anderson continued to coach the men’s tennis team through the 2018-19 season and earned his fourth “Coach of the Year” title from the Kansas State High School Activities Association.

“And every time it comes as a shock to me,” he said. “This year it was really a shock and I really feel that the award doesn’t belong to me because I literally spent half of the season with the boys.”

Anderson said the award really belongs to his co-head Coach Gary Stredney, who stepped in when Anderson could not due to his ONEOK schedule. Stredney coached at Abilene years before, Anderson said, and traveled between Wilson, Ellsworth and Abilene to make sure the team got to where it needed to be.

“Gary’s been such a mentor and friend to me that it was just a great season because whether he was there, I was there or we both were there, we always wanted the same for the kids and that’s to be the best you that you can be and eliminate the mistakes, the things that you control,” Anderson said. “And it just, it works so perfect. It was seamless how everything went together this last season.”

Anderson said he’s looking forward to being able to spend the full season with his team. It’ll be a young team, he said, after graduating a number of players and welcoming some new players into the fold.

“We’re going to have a young team this year,” he said. “That’s the one thing that I ... love the most about coaching is that from year to year it changes. It’s never the same thing. It’s new kids. The kids getting more mature and growing into their bodies and starting to figure some things out. It’s always just a new challenge.”