Benilde-St. Margaret’s has an abundance of new teachers this year. One of them already has his roots deeply embedded into the BSM community. Jake Ingalls, a 2008 graduate of BSM, has come back to expand his professional career.

After graduating from St. John’s, Ingalls decided that he wanted to work with high schoolers and prepare them for life beyond high school. “As most people know, I am currently in graduate school pursuing my Master’s Degree in School Counseling. In five years, I see myself working as a school counselor in a high school while still coaching football. In a perfect world, I would be lucky enough to still be working at BSM,” Ingalls said.

Along with being the offensive line coach for BSM’s varsity football team, Ingalls also coaches the speech team. Ingalls was a star on the football field, and a consistent lead in the school play. Getting to continue to be around this atmosphere has been a neat experience for Ingalls. “They made it very easy on me as a first year coach. Speech is great because it gives me a chance to flex my creative muscles that most people in the corporate world don’t often have the opportunity to flex. Acting and telling funny stories is a lot of fun, and working with the speech team has allowed me to get to know a whole different group of students than the football players,” Ingalls said.

Ingalls has a very insightful take on the differences and similarities between the two activities. “The participants in these activities are very different. While they may seem completely different, the two activities are more similar than one might expect.  Both require a participant to be mentally tough. In football, you have to know the plays and your responsibilities, and in speech you need to memorize your piece and have the mental fortitude to go up and perform the piece in front of a room full of strangers.  Both activities are also very physical.  While you will not see “speechers” tackling each other every Saturday, many categories require a high degree of physicality when performing,” Ingalls said.

Coming back after ten years, one would expect a school to change dramatically, but Ingalls says that he doesn’t feel like it’s that different. “It’s hard to believe it has been almost ten years. For the most part, BSM is the same as when I graduated. There are a lot of new teachers, and a new president, so it has been exciting to get to know them, while reconnecting with the teachers I had when I was a student,” Ingalls said.

Hopefully one day, Ingalls can be a full time guidance counselor for the school and help students hurdle the obstacles of high school.