RESPECTED AND ADMIRED DENVER TEACHER AND COACH STEVE FINESILVER RELEASES NEW BOOK, Hard Knocks & Dirty Socks.
Denver, CO,: Steve Finesilver has been a beloved teacher and coach at George Washington High School in Denver, Colorado since 1987, the same school that he attended as a youth. Coach Finesilver is widely admired for his commitment to his students and for his dedication to their success. He has published a new book called, Hard Knocks & Dirty Socks which chronicles his experiences as a coach and teacher. It also focuses on his seven children and how he has balanced his career with his family life. Coach Finesilver has proudly led his team to numerous championships. He is also the founder of the school’s successful mentorship program, which pairs at-risk youth with upper class students to provide them with positive role models and guidance. Coach Finesilver is widely respected by his students, players, faculty, and the community for his dedication to helping them succeed and for his commitment to creating a safe, inclusive environment for all.
Hard Knocks & Dirty Socks provides an inspirational story of how hard work and dedication can lead to success, no matter the odds. Coach Finesilver’s book is an uplifting and encouraging reader’s that is sure to inspire readers of all ages. It offers a call to action for teachers, parents, taxpayers, elected officials, and the media to consider improving the state of education in Denver. Readers will follow this accomplished fitness teacher, science teacher, and coach through his forty-four-year career, as he encounters massive changes in the education system during his tenure. Coach Finesilver’s intensive lifelong experience guiding, mentoring, and assisting children and families gives him direct, unfiltered insight into how our struggling schools can be helped, for the health and benefit of our children and our society.
“I have been extremely fortunate to have created deep and warm associations with students and families who over time have become my extended family. Sharing a few failures, but many successes, has been heartwarming and uplifting. I am very thankful,” says Coach Finesilver.
The book’s impassioned and urgent warning is important for all who care about the state of public education. Coach brings readers along on a journey with several kids that he has taught and coached through their joys, struggles, and ultimate successes. Meaningful anecdotes highlight the obstacles that they overcame at home, in school, and in a fractured education system.
He has created a game plan. As Coach sees and comments on public education’s decline with heart and vision, he counsels that he is in fact hopeful. His mission is to help the children and families who need it most. He wants to engage those preparing for a career in education as they learn the theory and art of teaching so that they also crave a chance to help make an impact inside and outside the classroom. With the need for change being more urgent than ever, Coach presents concrete methods for turning our crippled system into one that supports teachers and meets the needs of children simultaneously. With heart and vision – parents, taxpayers, and educators can all join the groundswell of effort to revitalize our educational system and support our youth’s health and potential.
Since 1993, Coach Finesilver has invested in the lives of youth and their families by starting two community programs: Jobs by George Foundation, is likely the longest-running, non-funded, youth employment program in the nation. This charitable, educational, organization supervises and places students from throughout the Metropolitan Denver area schools in summer jobs to facilitate them obtaining work experience and skills. It is an extraordinary civic project. Another is The Denver Youth Initiative, that is gaining momentum and impact as it places the children of Denver on a trajectory for success. Through positive change and support from the Denver community and City Government including the police and fire departments, the organization supplies opportunities for youth that have previously not been available. The Sustainability Team, a group of community leaders, fully dedicated to the young people in Denver, leads this project. Coach Finesilver is hopeful that Denver will become the national model, by providing services to its youth, which are not accessible in other large cities.
According to an article in US News & World Report (July 10, 2020, by Katie Bascuas), strong candidates pursuing a career in education possess the “desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Beyond teaching facts and concepts, education majors who work in a classroom might serve as mentors, helping students develop emotionally and socially.” This describes Coach Finesilver personally and professionally.
Hard Knocks & Dirty Socks is a twenty-year project that will have wide-ranging appeal to parents, students, current and future educators, and the public. Coach Finesilver believes that together we can all contribute our voices to achieve change and improvement in our large-city educational systems across the country.