MONTEZUMA — Teaching, building relationships and mentoring Montezuma students to give their best in the classroom, in athletic competitions and in life are things that Tim and Janel Burgess take to heart.
The couple, in their seventh year teaching and coaching young people at Montezuma, work hard to make every day count for the students.
Janel teaches middle school math and coaches high school girls basketball. Tim, who is known as TB, is the Montezuma activities director, school facilitator and volunteer coach for the Bravettes basketball team with Janel.
Janel said what she loves most about her job is the opportunity to impact the lives of young people daily. “We get to watch them mature and learn from the classroom and within the sports world.”
Tim agreed. Seeing students succeed in any area of their lives, regardless of whether it’s in a classroom, an activity or athletic competition, is important to him and to Janel.
“I think it’s a privilege to be a part of mentoring kids as they grow throughout their years at Montezuma,” Tim said.
All Janel has ever wanted to do was lead young people to be their best, she said.
“That is what I get to do each day. I wake up and know my goal is to impact people,” Janel said.
“We see students in all walks of life, and I just hope each one of my students know we love being part of their life.”
“Personally, I think what I like most about being in Montezuma and working with our students is our parent and community support,” added Tim.
“It was something I noticed right away and appreciated beyond words. I tell people all of the time, Montezuma is a truly special place.”
Early years
Janel, a native of Millersburg and former Deep River-Millersburg student, is a 1994 graduate of Montezuma High School where she played basketball for the Bravettes her junior and senior years.
Janel enjoyed a stellar career playing basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones, graduating with a teaching degree in 1998.
Janel spent a brief stint at the University of Northern Illinois before landing at the University of Maine and serving alongside then head coach Joanne McCallie.
Janel followed McCallie to Michigan State before accepting an assistant coaching position at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) in Springfield. She returned to Michigan in 2007 and took over the women’s coaching position at Grand Valley State University in Allendale.
During her eight year tenure at Grand Valley, Janel took the Lakers to the NCAA Division II Tournament twice.
It was at Michigan State where Janel and Tim first met in 2001.
Janel was running a junior varsity girls summer camp that year at Michigan State and Tim, a local high school coach, was working the camp as a volunteer coach.
“He will tell you, he did not want to work the camp, but we are both glad he did,” Janel said with a chuckle. “He was a coach at the time, and I was in need of employees.”
“I knew of her only because she was running the camp,” said Tim. “I actually remember being on a date early on and using salt and pepper baggies to draw up plays. Coaching was always part of our relationship, even from the beginning.”
Tim is a native of Mason, Michigan, a town about the size of Williamsburg, and a graduate of Mason High School.
Tim spent two years at Adrian College before transferring to Michigan State University where he earned an elementary teaching degree. He earned a special education degree from Grand Valley State University.
The couple has two children, Eddie, who is a sophomore at Upper Iowa University where he plays football and is earning a teaching degree, and Sydnee, a freshman at Montezuma High School.
Coming to Iowa
Janel said it was Tim who lead the charge to return to her home state of Iowa.
Tim had been a stay-at-home dad for five years while Janel was coaching collegiately and was gone a lot. Eddie was going to be a sixth grader, and Sydnee was going to be a first grader.
“He was looking ahead and saw our children were growing up fast,” said Janel. “He knew we wanted to be involved in our kids’ lives. Therefore, a move was needed.
“It was a very hard decision,” said Janel, “but we are both glad we abruptly changed our professional goals to come to Iowa.”
They couple moved into Janel’s grandparent’s home in 2015. They spent a brief time in Williamsburg before making the move to Montezuma in 2017.
Inspiring the young
By building relationships with the students and student athletes they interact with on a daily basis, the couple inspires young people to be their best, Janel said.
“Our goal is to make sure young people know they can trust us and they know we have their best interest in mind,” said Janel. “I believe our ‘kids’ know we care about them first, so when we have high expectations for them, they are able to rise within the classroom and in all their activities.”
“I agree,” said Tim. “It always starts with relationships. When you are dealing with students or even people in general, it starts there.
“If you listen to interviews about successful teams, programs, businesses, etc., you will find strong and positive relationships somewhere along the way,” said Tim.
Janel said she and Tim have a much different view of youth sports than most. “I believe youth sports are great, but there is no need to force children to be involved if they do not want to,” said Janel.
Janel said Eddie’s first organized youth sport was soccer in the third grade, and Sydnee didn’t start youth sports until the third grade as well.
“We wanted our kids to enjoy what they did and not do too much,” said Janel. “We had seen youth sports be over done through our other walks of life.”
Janel, who is coaching a youth basketball program with Greg Long, said the main focus is on building skills with three or four tournaments each winter.
“Our goal through youth sports is to enjoy everything because in a small school, we need all kids to do all activities in order for us all to be successful.”
When their children showed interest in something, they worked to make it happen for them, said Tim. But the moment they wanted to be done, it was over.
“Janel and I were both very blessed with supportive and hard working parents who were good role models,” said Tim. “We were both able to compete and have great experiences as we grew up.
“We want our kids to live their lives and do the things that make them happy. I don’t think there is a right or wrong philosophy to coaching youth or youth sports, but this was just how we chose to go about it with our kids,” said Tim.
Janel said that she and Tim are blessed to have all different age groups at Montezuma supported in all the activities from sports to musicals, FFA, speech and drama and, most importantly, the classroom.
“Personally, I think a community has a direct impact on the values, behaviors and success of students in every way,” Tim said.
“Take a look at the success our students have academically or from our extra-curriculars. It’s very clear what a truly special place Montezuma is,” said Tim.
“Teachers, coaches, students, parents and our Montezuma community are all intertwined in the success our school has. I am thankful every day to be a part of it.”