Teacher, coach, mom and Moore

Lauren Estes-Velez

Hartselle Enquirer

Anyone who has ever ventured to a softball or basketball game at Falkville High School has probably seen Laura Moore on the sidelines coaching. The 14-year teaching veteran and coach is also a mom of three boys, wife and  – according to her colleagues – a respected and well-thought-of member of the community, who often doesn’t receive the accolades she deserves.

Moore started teaching at Decatur High her first year, but the following 13 years were spent at Falkville High School.

“I come from many generations of teachers. My parents were both teachers, my grandpa and grandma both taught at FHS, and my great-grandpa taught,” Moore said. “I have several aunts and uncles and cousins who have also taught in Morgan County.”

For most teachers, the realization that teaching will be their top career choice hits at different times. For Moore, the desire really solidified while she was in college at Auburn University.

“I got to tutor a 60-year-old woman who did not know her colors or shapes,” Moore said. “She was so thankful that someone was working with her and loved coming to see me every week. I tutored her for one of my college classes. I thought I was getting a young female but was surprised to see an elderly woman.

“She taught me that people are never too old to learn. She had passion to learn and soaked in everything I taught her. I thought, ‘If teaching is like this, then I am going to love it.’

Moore said she does love teaching – but she found out quickly that not everyone has a passion to learn like her first elderly pupil. “Most like to learn something, but it’s not always science that they like,” Moore said. She has found, however, “if you care about people, then they tend to be more interested in what you teach. Students try harder and do better.”

Since Moore has been teaching, she has also been involved in different sports teams. Along with being able to pour into students’ lives in the classroom, she’s been able to do the same with athletes on the field and the court.

“I was an assistant coach for the junior varsity softball team at Decatur for one year. When I came to Falkville, I coached basketball for four years,” Moore said. “I was assistant basketball coach to varsity, and I was the head junior varsity coach until I changed to be the head junior high basketball coach. I also coached junior varsity softball and was the assistant softball coach at Falkville for two years.”

Moore said she learned that “you had to have fun with the girls and laugh a lot, but on the court it was all business,” she said. “As an assistant coach, I got to encourage the girls when they came over to the bench –  to give them confidence and show them things on the court that the coach was asking them to do.

“As a JV coach, we only had six players, but those girls gave it their all and came up with several wins. They had a blast and never told me they were tired, even though I knew they were,” Moore said. “As a coach, I was impressed with the willpower my players had. They always were better at the end then they were at the beginning, which is what I asked for from them.”

As a junior high coach, Moore recalls she was told by a couple of coaches that her team had improved tremendously and “they looked forward to playing us. This made my night and kept me coaching until I started having children,” Moore said.

Moore said in her 14 years of teaching, she’s made a ton of memories, but one specific field trip memory stands out that she still laughs about.

“My second year teaching, I decided to take a group of physics and marine biology students to Atlanta to Six flags for physics day and to the aquarium,” Moore said. “Since I was young and did not know what I needed for hotel rooms, I just booked the rooms online, got a total and went to the bookkeeper for a check for the exact amount.

“When we got to the hotel, they did not have us booked, and I did not get a confirmation number. I begged and pleaded with the manager, and they finally accepted our check and gave us rooms, due to us being three hours away from home.”

That wasn’t the last snafu she faced on that particular trip.

“The next morning as we were loading up the van, one of the students got the van key to put her stuff in the van and ended up putting the key in her baggage,” Moore said. “We were all ready to go to Six Flags and discovered the keys were gone. We looked all over every room in the hotel, all over the parking lot and asked the students to check their pockets and purses. We ended up having to go to a dealership to get a key made, and two or three hours later we got to go to Six Flags.

“It was a learning experience, and it was a while before I went on another field trip.”

Although Moore stays busy with her full schedule, she also makes time for her main priority: her family.

“I am a mom of three boys – Tristan, 7, Gage, 4, and Colt, 1 – and have been happily married for eight years to Jonathan,” Moore said. “I like to go hiking and biking with my family. We have a farm with four chicken houses and several cattle.”

She also said she enjoys spending time with friends from Central Baptist. “We have a very active Sunday School group,” Moore said. “We enjoy watching college football together on Saturdays – although we are a split family, since I graduated from Auburn and my husband’s parents graduated from Alabama. We like to entertain people, especially during football season.”

Moore said she and her family like to stay active, whether that’s doing chores on the farm or pursuing other outdoor activities together.

“My immediate family and I like to go check cows together, and we like to go to the park and play during the spring and summer,” Moore said. “My kids are very active, so they like to be outside as much as possible. We play basketball together, kick the soccer ball around, and I usually end up pitching the ball for them to hit until it gets dark.

“They are not participating in any organized sports yet but will be hopefully this spring. My oldest son Tristan went on a hiking trip recently with the guys and hiked 13.5 miles. My husband takes the boys with him to cattle sales, to cut and bale hay and to work in the chicken houses. I want my kids to grow up knowing how to work and fix things.”

Something Moore has been involved in during her tenure is sharing her love of Christ with students and student athletes.

“I have had some wonderful FCA leaders in the past,” Moore said. “We have had concerts at school for fields of faith, collected food for the needy, wrapped shoeboxes at Christmas for the Morgan County Volunteer Center and organized food and cleaned shelves at the Carpenter’s Cabinet.

“While coaching, I was in charge of FCA and Youth for Christ,” Moore added. “I got to tell my teams about Jesus and his love for them. I am a senior sponsor this year, so I would like to see all of the kids in my classes go to college or have a job plan.

“I also have a goal of helping a couple of kids a semester with things they need. God has put these kids on my heart who need someone to love them, and I am taking on the challenge.”

Teaching in the field of science can be both challenging and exciting. Moore said for her students, the best way to learn is to be hands-on.

“Anatomy is my favorite subject to teach. I love talking to the kids about their bodies and helping them to understand what is going on inside of them,” Moore said. “Learning the bones is always a student favorite, and that makes it easy to teach. My students always loved going to UAB to look at human body parts and uncover the cadavers. One year I took them to the McWane Center to see the Body Exhibit.

“The best way to learn science is to see it and touch it.”

Moore captures a photo of the Falkville Junior High basketball girls learning to dribble with goggles.

Moore points out parts of the body using a skeleton during her class.

Moore enjoys the fall season with her three sons, Tristan, Gage and Colt, and husband Jonathan Moore.

FHS student Blakelynn Holladay stands with teacher Laura Moore, who is dressed up as a mad scientist.