Evie Janis

Mr. Lyons is loved by his students and always willing to help them when they are stuck. He really is a great inspiration on what it means to be a Red Knight.

Science teacher Bob Lyons, better known as Bio Bob to his students, is an inspiration to those around him, setting an example of what it means to be a Red Knight with his hard work and 31 years of dedication to the school, 23 of those years as girls varsity basketball coach.

Lyons specializes in biology but also started a forensics class with Jim Wander in 2014. After Wander retired, Lyons continued teaching the class and saw it grow in popularity. When asked what his favorite course to teach was, he explained, “They’re completely different courses, so the age levels are different. My background and knowledge is more in biology, but forensics is more new, motivating, interesting, and fun for me to learn about,” Lyons said.

Many other teachers know Lyons well and describe him as someone who has very positive relationships with other students and teachers. Former athletic and activities director Jerry Pettinger also worked closely with Lyons as his boss while he was a coach for the girls’ basketball team. “It’s about a vocation for Mr. Lyons, not an occupation. His calling has been for the students of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, both as a coach and teacher. He’s totally dedicated to Benilde-St. Margaret’s and making sure students have a great experience,” Pettinger said.

Lyons’ teaching method is effective, and he is known for working humor into his lectures to approach students with a way of learning that is more engaging. “He’s a little old school, he wants students to take responsibility for their work, but I think he really thrives on the relationships with kids, and he’s pretty funny when he’s standing up there lecturing, he’s got a good teaching method, and I think that kids really can appreciate how he delivers the curriculum,” Pettinger said.

Lyons originally wanted to become a sports broadcaster, but on the first day of his speech course as a freshman in college, he was tasked with speaking for two minutes on drywall. He had no experience whatsoever and knew that was not his calling. “I was so embarrassed, I didn’t even last 30 seconds, and I sat down. I got all red in the face,…because I didn’t know what it was and my dad wasn’t a home improvement guy. So needless to say, I was a little out of my element, and I quit speech,” Lyons said.

Because of an inspirational zoology teacher he had as a high school student, Lyons decided to follow a path in teaching science, and he was first hired at a school in Illinois. His teaching career later led him to Wisconsin, but for his fourth year, he was hired at BSM. “I went to a Catholic grade school and a Catholic High School, and I grew up in a conservative Catholic family. So it was always in the back of my mind that that would be a great place to teach,” Lyons said.

Even throughout teaching, Lyons held sports close to his heart and decided to minor in coaching. When he first began his journey at BSM in 1995, Lyons was invited to coach B-squad girl’s basketball, then they quickly hired him for girl’s varsity for 23 years. After his 23rd season, he retired from coaching. “[Coaching and teaching] was hard. I don’t think people quite understand how difficult it is…I had three little kids. I was the department chair. I was teaching AP biology,” Lyons said.

He explained the long hours he would spend at work, a typical day would be 7:00 am – 9:00 pm. Balancing his teaching life with his coaching life was difficult. When Lyons returned home for the day, he barely had enough time to grade assignments and follow through with his other responsibilities as a teacher and dad. He said that when he finally retired from coaching, he was shocked by how the other half of teachers live. “Because I think people who don’t coach don’t get it,” Lyons said.

Coaching the BSM Girls Varsity Basketball team for so long, Mr. Lyons was well respected around the school with a good reputation. “Mr. Lyons is the winningest girl’s basketball coach or the winningest basketball coach in Benilde-St. Margaret’s history. He’s an excellent coach. He really excels at relationships with kids and his actual coaching ability,” Pettinger said.

Lyons also started the first BSM girls golf club in 1998. A few girls were interested in it, and he decided to teach them how to play, “There were some girls that wanted to get into golf, and we didn’t have a golf team, so I took them to Theodore Wirth and we started, and they were so bad, I don’t even think we… finished nine holes because we weren’t fast enough, …But I got it started,” Lyons said.