Resident Feature
The Gicking Family:
Working Hard and Playing Hard in Broomall Written by Holly Stupak Photos by Katie Borsuk Photography www.KatieBorsuk.com
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e’re excited to introduce you to The Gicking Family: Chris, Donna, Olivia, Christopher and Nolan. On any given day, you’ll likely find Chris and Donna at one of our local sports fields. Whether coaching football, teaching a fitness class or watching one of their children play football, basketball, lacrosse or baseball, they love being active. “We’re both into fitness and our favorite thing to do is watch our kids play sports!” said Donna. Chris has been active in Marple sports since he was a kid growing up here. His sister Jen played field hockey, basketball and lacrosse for Marple and went on to play lacrosse at James Madison University. Chris went to MNHS, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He was the football team's quarterback, becoming an All-Central League and All-Delco All-State player and the Delaware County Times Player of the Year in 1995. Chris still holds a number of records, and in 2004, he was inducted into the Marple Newtown High School Athletics Hall of Fame. The son of two teachers, Chris knew from a young age that he wanted to be a teacher. “Teaching is in my blood. My dad coached and taught at Conestoga High School for 37 years and my mom taught preschool at Grace Lutheran for 41 years. My sister was both a teacher and lacrosse coach in Conestoga,” Chris explained. “I really admired them for what they did, so for me teaching and coaching are dream jobs.” Chris’s football skills earned him a scholarship to Villanova University where he played for two years before transferring to Shippensburg University. While studying education there, Chris continued with his football career and was a three-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference All-League player, named Offensive Conference Player of the Year and an AllAmerican in 1999. After graduating from Shippensburg in 2001 with a degree in elementary education, he spent two years playing arena football for the Augusta Stallions. Then he began his teaching career at Colwyn Elementary in Darby, where he taught for 10 Marple Friends & Neighbors / Bringing People Together
Chris and Donna Gicking
eleven years while also coaching football at Conestoga High School. During that time, Chris earned a Masters in Leadership from Neumann University in 2006. In 2014 Chris went back to his Marple Newtown roots to teach first grade at Culbertson Elementary and later that year became the coach of the MNHS football team. He was appointed MNHS’s Athletic Director (AD) and Dean of Students the following year and he’s enjoyed that role at his alma mater for the past seven years. “What’s great about my position is that I really get to know the students on and off the field,” said Chris. “I’ve known many of the students since they were kids, so to see their growth as student-athletes is really rewarding.” When Chris first took over the role as AD, he said he got a lot of inspiration from Jim Smith, the former AD and his football coach when he was at Marple. “I’m lucky to have had Jim as a great role model. And my parents both instilled a great work ethic in me throughout my childhood.” Donna also grew up in Broomall and has two younger siblings who attended Marple schools. Donna went to St. Pius X and then MNHS where she was on the track and cross country teams. Donna’s mom’s role as a preschool teacher and her dad’s love of running rubbed off on her. After high school Donna also chose to pursue a career in education. “As a student-athlete at Marple, I really admired my English teacher, Mary Jo Yannacone, who also happened to be my track coach,” said Donna. “She inspired me to become a teacher.”
