Two Outstanding Gentlemen Begin Coaching/Teaching Duties at Leakey ISD
by Leakey ISD Webmaster
September 01, 2009
9/9/2009-News Release-Leakey Independent School District-Fred R. McNiel, Supt.
Two Outstanding Gentlemen Begin Coaching/Teaching Duties at Leakey ISD
Leakey ISD is fortunate to have been able to hire ten outstanding new faculty/staff members for the 2009-2010 school year. Last week we introduced Karen Kurz and Brandon Powers, new math and science teachers respectively. This week we want you to meet two outstanding gentlemen who have recently gone to work for Leakey ISD and are serving as both physical education teachers and coaches. We are pleased to have Russell McElroy and Phil Aris on board and want all our parents and community friends to get to know them better. In the photograph above Mr. McElroy is on the left and Mr. Aris is on the right.
Mr. Russell McElroy is our new volleyball coach. Russell grew up in Perryton, a small school way up in the top of the Texas Panhandle! While a student in high school, Russell participated in football, basketball, track and choir. After graduating from Perryton High School Russell attended West Texas A&M University in Canyon and graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Exercise Science. While pursuing his college degree, Russell served as an assistant volleyball coach at the University and was part of a coaching staff that amassed more than 300 victories in a ten year span! During this time he also got to experience a national title! In 2005 Mr. McElroy returned to his hometown to accept the head volleyball coaching position at his alma mater where he taught and coached prior to accepting the teaching/coaching position at Leakey.
Russell is married to the former Laurie Stephens, the mother of five children. The two oldest daughters, Kendal and Kaleigh are both adults and they continue to live in the Panhandle. The other three children live with their father in Uvalde. They are: Kyler, Kamree, and Karley. The McElroys are thrilled to be living within a half hour of their younger children instead of the nine hours when they lived in Perryton! Mr. McElroy hobbies include all kinds of sports but particularly volleyball, softball and golf. He also likes to surf the internet, attend school and community functions, play board games with friends and cook!
Mr. Phil Aris is our new girls basketball coach. He also is assisting Mr. McElroy as a volleyball coach. Mr. Aris grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming and graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in 1976. He played basketball at a junior college in Wyoming and graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1981. Mr. Aris has taught and coached for the past twenty-eight years. Most of those years were spent in Wyoming but he also spent two years coaching and teaching in Colorado and one year teaching and coaching on the North Slope of Alaska!
Mr. Aris is the father of two adult children, Kerensa and Cameron. They live in Wyoming along with Phil’s mother and siblings. Mr. Aris is an adventurer and is fulfilling a lifelong dream to live and work in the beautiful Hill Country in the great state of Texas! His hobbies include fly-fishing, backpacking, hunting and ATV riding. Mr. Aris is also a falconer!
If you haven’t already met these two outstanding gentlemen, please make a point to do so! They have already had a positive impact on our school and students and both are very personable and friendly. Welcome to the Frio Canyon area, Russell and Phil!