We interviewed Coach Tinsley, arguably one of the most iconic teachers at Seminole High School. He teaches a variety of history and government classes and has coached nearly every sport offered at SHS. Coach Tinsley has been teaching at Seminole High School for forty-three years. He and his wife, LaJuana, decided to come back to Oklahoma and luckily enough two coaches had just been let go in his field. Coach Tinsley said, “I got hired on the spot.” Over the last four decades Coach Tinsley has seen a tremendous amount of change in Seminole and Seminole High School, “It’s a lot different that what it was.” When he first arrived in Seminole, the town was going through an economic boom. “Businesses were still downtown, oil boom people were being hired left and right. Then when the economic crash hit...the money wasn’t there to be spent.” says Coach Tinsley. One thing that hasn’t changed is the school spirit, “it’s still here.” When asked how the new high school measures up to the old building Coach Tinsley replied, “I mean, it’s good. The classrooms are bigger, more technological items are in the rooms, the new gym makes it nicer. It’s a nice place.” When asked what the most remarkable attribute of the new school is, Tinsley quickly responded, “The size, the length of the main hallway!” Coach Tinsley offered this piece of advice for students, “Study more. Study more out of class. Don’t just listen. Participate. Make decisions from what you’ve learned. Thanks Coach Tinsley for your dedication to public education, the students of SHS, and Seminole Public Schools.

“It’s been a great ride for forty-three years teaching the students of Seminole. We’ve got a good student body.” Coach Tinsley