4 minute read
LEAVING HIS MARK
Forty-seven years is a long time to leave a mark. At the end of this past summer, a founding staff member with 47 years of loyal dedication to Delphian and its purpose decided to move on, having completed one game to pursue another. He has left his mark on quite literally thousands of Delphian students.
During a varied Delphian career that started in 1974, John “Kertch” Kertchem redefined “Delphian lifer.” Kertch has worked in almost every area of the school and his impact on Delphian will be felt by generations of students to come. Known for his high standards, he served as a supervisor in the upper school, worked as an ethics advisor, introduced hundreds of new students to Delphian as an admissions registrar and was legendary in the athletics department. He served as an unparalleled and dauntless coach of the varsity volleyball team, where he led the Dragons for forty years, going back to 1980.
Volleyball was one of the first sports added to Delphian’s athletic program. In the early days of his Delphian career, Kertch began as the assistant coach. Having played a little volleyball on an intramural two-man volleyball team while attending UC Davis in California, he quickly filled the shoes of the head coach and built the Delphian volleyball program into what it is today.
Kertch approached the job as a consummate professional, always learning more about coaching and the intricacies of the game. He watched “Volleyball 101” on VHS tapes and read and studied up on coaching and team building. In addition to research, Kertch attended multiple coaching clinics over the years led by some of volleyball’s greats including Hall of Famer Jim Coleman, US
women’s national volleyball head coach Terry Liskevych, Stanford’s 5-time NCAA champion-winning coach John Dunning, and US gold medalist winner and coach Karch Kiraly.
All of his hard work paid off when Kertch led his team to a nineteen-season
winning streak from 1983 to 2002, at which time the rules of the game were revised. This didn’t stop him, though. He revised his coaching and training strategies to again bring the team together, leading them to the state playoffs again and again in the years since.
Some of his many career accomplishments include:
• Setting the record for the most truckloads of logs in a day (60) back when the school logged for boiler fuel.
• Establishing the first admissions tour to Australia as well as the “Adventure Train” tour from a fellow Applied Scholastics school in the Bay Area.
• Leading the first Delphian sports team to the state playoffs.
• Capturing the school’s first-ever state championship in 1995.
• Consistent winning teams and trips to the state playoffs.
• 2017 Oregon Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year for volleyball.
• 2017 National Federation of High Schools Section 8 Coach of the Year.
In the words of Coach Kertch:
“High school volleyball is an opportunity: an opportunity to learn what a team really is. To learn that one can operate as an individual within a team and bring improvement and gain for herself, her teammates, her schoolmates and yes, even her school. To learn about trust and respect, personal ethics and hard work, integrity and leadership.
“That true morale for self and group comes from pushing through barriers and getting things done with demonstrated competence and hard-won production.
“All of this starts with care, commitment and the willingness to demonstrate ability with courage to do so. To find out that one is alive and can live life well and with others, and that where there is adversity, something can be done about it.”
We are grateful for what he taught us and generations of Delphians from the first days Delphian opened its doors to students in 1976.
As a parent of alums, grandparent of enrolled students, and husband of founding staff member Heather Kertchem, his ties to Delphian remain strong. And we hope to have him back reffing our annual alumni weekend volleyball games!
In making the announcement to the school community, Head of School Trevor Ott said, “Kertch and I had a great conversation when he called to tell me about his decision and the next game he has in mind. Through the years, John Kertchem set a leading example of a staff member willing to roll up his sleeves and do all that it took to get the job done. He and I are both excited about his next adventure, but that story is his to tell. You will see him around campus again soon, and you should all give him a slap on the back and a ‘hubba bubba!’ We thank him for all of his years of service and wish him well as he moves on to his next big game!”
