Coach Eric Coovert talks to players on the sidelines of the homecoming football game on Sept. 8 at Turner Stadium. The football players were the first students he told. Many of them he had coached for three years. “Seeing tears in their eyes after I told them [was hard],” Coovert said. “But then afterwards every single one of them came over and gave me a hug. And I was crying by the end.”

Teacher and coach Eric Coovert was diagnosed with cancer last June. Coovert juggled his cancer journey while coaching multiple sports and prepping multiple classes.

With my story, KPTimes.com was the first news outlets to tell his story. My work for this story was featured at the Houston Sports Awards and on KPRC, KHOU and HumbleISD.net.

The online article earned the Best of SNO distinction.