Prior to teaching, new WHB Elementary phys. ed. teacher, Mr. Mensch, was training in Colorado to become an Olympic snowboarder.

A Long Island native, Mr. Mensch  attended William Floyd High School and first started skiing when he was 3 years old. Then he “begged” his parents to him snowboard, and finally they allowed him to snowboard at 6 years old.

Junior year, he left William Floyd High School to train in Colorado. It was a tough decision because he felt like he was letting his football team down and he wanted redemption after the lost in the Suffolk County Championship. But, he said, “The coolest thing was that when I talked to my friends they all told me how awesome of an opportunity it was to attend this school and pursue my dream of making it to the Olympics.”

Looking back Mensch feels he made the right decision.“Snowboarding has given me the most amazing experiences. I was able to meet some of the most creative, kind people that have grown into some of my closest friendships. It allowed me to see some of the most beautiful countries and experience multiples cultures while traveling,” he said.

In 2014, during his last year of competing, he finally he decided to go into teaching. “I had some great influences from past teachers as well as coaches and I wanted to hopefully do the same for my students one day.”

The teaching experience “has been unreal” according to Mr. Mensch. He feels grateful and lucky to be teaching at WHBES. He said,“Seeing my students so energized makes me push myself to become a better teacher and person and to make sure they get the best experience while in my class.”

This year, Mr. Mensch along with Mr. Doroski and Mr. Izzo, coached the JV Football team to an undefeated season. He felt a little nervous being the new guy but felt welcomed to the team. He said, “I always felt that not playing my senior year, I had a piece of the puzzle missing. Now being able to coach football again I feel that I found that piece.”

Starting nose tackle Dom Sarno said, “He really gives a personal touch to the game and he really knows how to make a connection with his players. He helped me improve as a player as well as a person.”

Starting JV quarterback and captain Christian Capuano agreed, “Coach Mensch is a very nice guy and mentor to all of his players. I learned some things from him that made me a better quarterback as well as a better person.”