Empower and inspire: How John Walters shapes students’ lives at Glenbard East

Being a high school physical education and driver’s education teacher as well as the school’s head football coach is not uncommon.

At Glenbard East High School, John Walters meets these roles with uncommon passion.

“Being a mentor, a role model, a leader, modeling the behaviors that you want your students to do in class, I think is kind of a big deal,” said Walters, 55, who has spent 31 years in education, 17 of them at the Lombard school, and is three years from retirement.

“The big thing about teaching is you, as an educator, need to evolve. Times change, kids change, circumstances change. And I think the biggest thing I try to focus on is just building relationships with kids,” he said.

“It doesn’t take any time out of your day to ask, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’”

Walters teaches Advanced Strength Training, a class he inherited. Walters bulked up the class by developing an enhanced curriculum and expanding the subject from one section per academic year to four sections each semester, serving about 180 students daily, mainly on Rams varsity athletic teams.

Behind the wheel as a driver’s education instructor, Walters has taken on the role of serving as a bilingual instructor for Glenbard East’s Spanish-speaking students.

The desire to grow and adapt in driver’s education was a key factor in Walters receiving Glenbard District 87’s “Inspire … Empower … Succeed” award in February 2024.

“That’s been an awesome thing for him and has been an asset in his willingness to — kind of like we ask the kids to ‘continue to learn’ — meet the needs of the kids,” said Walters’ department chair, Clay Reagan.

Inspiring and empowering has translated to success on the football field. In his 16th season as Rams head coach, he holds the program record for victories, going 80-67 entering games of Sept. 11.

The choice for Glenbard East’s inaugural “Coach of the Year” honor in 2026, Walters also earned an award as a Chicago Bears Coach of the Week in 2018.

“He’s a great man. Besides being a coach, I feel like he’s a good dude,” said Rams senior football player Montii Perry.

“He’ll tell the truth. He’ll be honest with you. He’ll let you know what it is, and he’s always good to other people,” Perry said.

Perry is an obvious target of Walters’ strength training curriculum, which is based on working off three core exercises: bench press, squat, and clean.

“Our job and goal is really to teach them how to use their body, how to work out in the weight room — appropriate sets and reps — how to work with a percentage of their body weight, how to lift safely, how to execute the lifts the right way so you’re getting the maximum out of it, and you’re not getting yourself injured or putting yourself in an injury situation while you’re lifting,” Walters said.

It’s the kind of knowledge that can last a lifetime, and it’s utilized by students throughout the athletic program. The curriculum offers a “menu of opportunities,” Walters said, including flexibility, core work, and in- and off-season workouts designed to prepare athletes for competition.

Girls volleyball coach Bradley Cardott recommended one of his outside hitters, 6-foot Belle McDermott, take Walters’ Advanced Strength Training class as a sophomore.

She came into it feeling awkward and a little scared. Under Walters’ guidance and reinforcement, McDermott gained confidence, made friends, and now, as a senior, she will lift on her own. The girls in the class appreciated Walters’ patience, she said.

“It was nice not being treated like a football guy,” McDermott said.

“He’s really flexible in how things worked for us (female students). We’re not able to go up in weight as much as guys can because we don’t grow muscle as fast. So he was very gracious with what we were able to do, but he also knew when to push us and when not to,” McDermott said.

That’s part of Walters’ secret sauce, Reagan believes.

“He does a great job of meeting kids where they’re at, does a great job of connecting with them on a lot of different levels, and just has a knack of motivating kids. I think that’s his biggest strength,” Reagan said.

Someone early in his academic career like Patrick Walker, a 2008 Glenbard East graduate back at school teaching special education and coaching Rams track and football, learns from Walters’ example.

“He always talks about everything we do is a process, and that’s how he approaches his day-to-day business in everything: It’s a process, and he is in it for the long game. He’s not trying to microwave anything. He’s trying to do it the right way,” Walker said.

A 1989 Glenbard North graduate, Walters got his first teaching job at West Chicago High School, where his wife, Michelle, teaches. Married 28 years, the couple lives in Aurora.

They have two sons, Colby and Carson, the latter a junior hockey player at Morrisville State University in New York. Colby, living in Lombard, briefly played professional hockey with the Indiana Sentinels.

In retirement — Michelle has four years left — John Walters figures he’ll find an assistant football coaching spot, do some traveling, play golf. And, not surprisingly, lift weights.

Until then, there are Glenbard East students to empower and inspire.

“I think we have a lot of lessons that we’ve been through in our life especially as kind of older teachers,” Walters said, “to help give kids a great perspective on the world along with what you’re teaching, and how you can tie that into being a life-long learner.”

Curriculum vitae

John Walters

School: Glenbard East High School in Lombard

Occupation: Teaches Advanced Strength Training, driver’s education, head boys football coach

Residence: Aurora

Age: 55

Education: Glenbard North High School; Bachelor of Science in Physical Education with a minor in Driver’s Education, Eastern Illinois University; Master of Science in Exercise Science

Previous work experience: Taught physical education and driver’s education at West Chicago High School, head baseball and football coach; taught physical education and driver’s education at York High School, head baseball and assistant football coach

Tips from a top teacher

1. Build relationships with students. Get to know them. Students perform better in class when they have a connection with the teacher.

2. Challenge your students to excel, compete, and perform. Ensure expectations are clear.

3. Be prepared to adapt daily.

4. Be available to your students for questions or help with classroom expectations and tasks.

5. Create a positive learning environment where all students feel comfortable and want to be (there) and learn.

— John Walters