February 15, 2025

Santa Rosa instructor of the yr Mentor Zack Butler battles cancer

Santa Rosa instructor of the yr Mentor Zack Butler battles cancer

The man who gained the 2023 Santa Rosa County University District Teacher of the 12 months made use of to be a “general” actual physical training instructor.

But Mentor Zack Butler is no for a longer period just a PE teacher, and there isn’t much which is “standard” about him. Butler has identified his life’s contacting in teaching special requirements small children how to take pleasure in college via his PE classes.

Bringing joy — and obtaining it himself — has constantly been a precedence for Butler, even as he battles late-stage most cancers.

Irrespective of his very own medical requires, he continues to help preK-12 young children with autism, Down syndrome and visible impairments feel comfortable — if only for an hour, in a gym, a pair times a 7 days — in their school configurations.

Santa Rosa instructor of the yr Mentor Zack Butler battles cancer

He’s done it while sporting a fanny pack on his waist crammed with chemotherapy meds and with a tube working out of the pack, flowing and connecting into his stomach.

“What I do is work with college students who may well have issues fitting into (typical education) PE conditions,” Butler mentioned. “I like it.”

Butler, 38, lives in Milton with his wife, Eva, and their 2-yr-aged daughter, Olivia.