At the bottom of the 2017 Juneau-Douglas High School softball print-out schedule are four words: loyalty, trust, attitude, effort.
They are the guiding principles of the team, but could just as accurately characterize its new head coach’s teaching philosophy.
Lexie Razor, 1994 JDHS graduate now in her 16th year teaching high school math, was awarded BP’s Teacher of Excellence last month. Out of the 29 public and private educators from Alaska given the distinction, only three represented Southeast: Razor, Craig’s Deanna Ferguson Claus and Mt. Edgecumbe’s Sara Jacoby.
“That was exciting,” Razor said of receiving the honor.
“I just know kids and I work with teenagers a lot and I’ve learned a lot about how to have different approaches for what they need and just have patience with them and respect them,” Razor said, whose taught in three states besides Alaska.
JDHS principal Paula Casperson said Razor is the first BP nod from JDHS in her four years at the post.
“This is exactly the sort of recognition that we think is appropriate,” Casperson said. “She is high-energy and she’s innovative and she’s doing good things for kids across the board.
Only 3 percent of the total nominations made the cut: 13 from Anchorage and Mat-Su, five from the Kenai Peninsula, six from Fairbanks and five from “outlying districts,” which includes Southeast.
Each teacher awarded received a $500 gift card and $500 matching grant to their school. Razor’s accomplishment will be celebrated by faculty and students during a May 11 ice cream social at the school.
Faculty peer Michaela Moore nominated Razor for the award because, in her words, “Lexi is my hero.”
“Lexi loves teaching and she loves teenagers,” Moore wrote in her December nomination of Razor. “She understands teenagers. She finds the heart and soul in teenagers. And she see’s the humor in teenagers.”
Senior softball utility player Ally Ireland-Haight, who also has been a regular in Razor’s math classes over the years, says it’s no small feat to become the head coach of the program.
“It’s honestly impressive,” Ireland-Haight said. “I’ll be in her classroom before school a lot of the time and she’s just working on softball stuff. She puts in so much time and it’s incredible how much work it actually is.”
Razor says her coaching drive comes from the same place as her teaching one.
“For me, it’s the girls that come first,” Razor said. “That they’re having fun and that they’re learning and it’s not just about softball, it’s about life and learning how to manage school and practice and just everything.”
She helps her students manage school through YouTube tutorials, in-class games and even mobile apps such as “Quizizz” and “Kahoot.” She keeps all the links to her tutorials through her own webpage: msrazormath.com, where students can also find the class calendar, notes and syllabus.
“She really has a sense for what individual students need and how to help them learn,” Casperson said.
Razor is not the only new softball coach in town; Thunder Mountain High School’s team has a new coach this year as well. To read an article about her, see this article: New Thunder Mountain softball coach to make debut
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
