Balancing the equation 

In her earlier years, Logan Garrett never imagined herself as a teacher, especially for math. Now after six years at Cedar Shoals High School, Garrett also finds a way to balance her time coaching softball and spending meaningful moments with her family. 

“I did not want to be a teacher,” Garrett said. “I graduated from high school, and I thought that I was going to be a forensic scientist or CSI type of person. Then I took my first chemistry class in college and realized I couldn’t do that because I had to be a biochemistry major if I wanted that job.”

Undecided for a while with what she wanted to do, Garrett got back on track when someone asked her what made her happy.

“I remembered that I really like problem solving,” Garrett said. 

Throughout her younger years in Rogers City, Michigan, Garrett tutored neighborhood kids in math. She didn’t care too much for the actual math, but instead enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure something difficult out and connecting with someone over it.

Garrett doesn’t teach because she loves math. Instead she teaches to build strong student relationships in hopes of creating a safe space. She knows that math is an infamously disliked subject that people struggle with, so she tries to work around that.

“She does a great job explaining things to her students, talking with them and having really good math conversations with them,” Jennifer Schmidt, math department, said. “She definitely believes in keeping the communication lines open.”

Garrett says she enjoys the challenges of teaching high school, though sometimes it can interfere with her personal life. 

“We just sometimes won’t see her because she’ll be grading papers or working on lesson plans,” Gretta Garrett, her daughter and eighth grade Hilsman student, said. “But usually she tries to spend time with us while she does that. If we’re watching TV, she’ll sit with us and watch TV, but also work on what she has to.”

In an attempt to have more family time with her three children, one of whom attends Cedar, Garrett tries to cook dinner for her family each night.

“It’s better than nothing,” Garrett said. “It can be a challenge to find a time where we can be a family of five together, and be present with each other so that we’re not just ships passing in the night.” 

Eight years after Garrett moved to Athens from Lansing, Michigan in 2010, she volunteered to coach little league softball, which she played in her youth. Eventually she became the head of the East Athens Little League program;building schedules, maintaining the team and recruiting are the main priorities of the job. As a testament to her time management and athletic skills,  she became the JV softball coach this year at Cedar. 

Much like teaching math, she coaches with a positive attitude and always pushes her players to have a good time.

“She makes sure that we cheer each other on,” freshman Syniah Long said.

Though she enjoys coaching, she knows she can’t always please everyone.

“That is something you have to know going into coaching. Most of the time there are going to be people unhappy and there are going to be people just thrilled,” Garrett said. “So you have to have thick skin for that.”

Having so many responsibilities sometimes leaves her exhausted and tired, so Garrett cherishes what little free time she does have. She wishes that she had more time to practice self care during the day, but she doesn’t want to risk losing too much sleep. She likes to wake up at 5:30, giving her time to walk or run with her dog in the morning, but compares it to feeling like a vampire. 

“I wish I could just sit down and read for a while,” Garrett said. “But I’m typically taking care of tasks all day at home until it’s time for bed. I can’t let myself just quiet my brain.”

Knowing this much about herself, Garrett stayed away from full time teaching until her kids were older. 

“I knew that they didn’t need as much emotional care as they did when they were younger,” Garrett said.

However, when she did start to teach again, she realized that her heart had grown a bit more. Garrett is not teaching with any less emotion than before, but she has the ability to compartmentalize it better than before. But sometimes she just has to say no. 

“I used to stay until six or seven at night working with students before I had kids.” Garrett said “Now I just have to say, no. There are other people in my life who need me, and that’s okay to do that. I don’t need to spread myself too thin.”