“There’s a lot of work that is put into being good,” said Eliza Campbell, current NDA teacher, girls basketball coach and alumni coordinator.
As a student at NDA, Campbell played basketball, ran cross country and did the high jump and long jump in track. Campbell’s family, including her mom, dad and three siblings, are all also alumni of NDA and its heritage schools. Her mom, Julie Campbell, also teaches in the social studies department.
After high school Campbell went on to play basketball in college at UW-Oshkosh. Now, as a teacher and assistant varsity coach here at NDA, she said, “I was not shocked” at the idea of being on staff here.
Campbell’s life includes a lot of basketball. She is currently on the leading scorers board for basketball. She loves the game and loves coaching the varsity NDA girls.
“We have a great group of girls,” Campbell said about the basketball team. She is proud they are willing to put in the work and believes that is what separates them from other teams. NDA’s girls team is a three-time state champ, and they’re going for a fourth title this season.
“The best part about being a coach is that I am very good friends with people I coach with. We hang out all of the time. I love the kids, and how we get to know each other because of how much we are together.”
She says she got the love of sports from her dad.
“My parents put me into every sport when I was younger. I think that was really good for me,” she said.
Campbell herself is a high school state championship winner.
Her coaching style focuses on examining what a player did wrong and then lifting her up.
Here at NDA Campbell currently teaches computer applications and physical education. She said her favorite part of teaching is the kids and the experience.
One of Campbell’s biggest inspirations throughout her life was John Nowak, a football and track coach when she was a student at NDA. He influenced her to become a teacher.
“John Nowak said to me,” Campbell told the journalism class, “in teaching you get something new every day and you don’t have to sit at a desk.”
