Major Scott Roach is the Chair of our Social Studies Department and in his eighteen years at Hargrave has taught classes ranging from 7th Grade Math to AP Government.
He started at Hargrave as an assistant baseball coach while teaching in the public school system. Soon he was on the Hargrave faculty and coaching basketball, football, and baseball. The structured environment and one-on-one relationships with students drew him to Hargrave and has kept Coach Roach here. “Students cannot fall through the cracks; they either get a pat on the back or we hold them accountable.”
The middle school basketball team has just finished their season and Coach Roach really enjoys working with this age group. “They are a different animal. They think they can play like NBA players but do not yet have the experience and physical abilities they need.” He enjoys helping them to develop their abilities and push past their limits. “The payoff is much sweeter. You get a sense of their growth and knowledge over a season. Some start the season not being able to make a layup and finish being able to do it with either hand.”
“We do not win every game and losing is not fun, but you can learn a lot from it. It is through failure that you learn to appreciate victories in life.”
Major Roach grew up near Chatham and used to tease his best friend who was a Cadet at Hargrave about his short hair. His grandmother used to threaten to enroll him at Hargrave. Much like many young men at that age he had “blurred vision” and “did not appreciate what a school like Hargrave can do for a young man”.
One of his favorite memories over the years is of a student who now plays college basketball who hardly talked in class but wrote him a note saying, “Thank you, sir, for everything that you have done.” Another former student recently came back and spoke to the Corps. “He was a real soup sandwich when he showed up at Hargrave and now he is an Assistant DA”.
“This is the best job I have ever had. I do not want to be anywhere else.”
