Going from teaching a class full of students to coaching football games is not simple. Not only does one need to educate students, give tests, and cover all of the curriculum, but one must also know how to be strategic, draw game plans and score against opponents. For chemistry teacher and boys’ and girls’ powerlifting coach Frank Snoddy, he balances both and was named the 2026 LCM High School Teacher of the Year for his hard work.
Snoddy was presented with the Teacher of the Year award on April 13. He has been teaching at LCM for ten years, and this year will be his eleventh year. Before coming to LCM, he coached football at Linden-Kildare in 2014.
“I feel very honored and taken aback to have been selected as teacher of the year,” Snoddy said.
Along with winning Teacher of the Year, Snoddy also won an award for coaching powerlifting in the past.
“In 2022, I received the Southeast Texas Coaches Association’s Girl Powerlifting Coach of the Year,” Snoddy said.
Currently, Snoddy teaches chemistry and anatomy and physiology. He also coaches defensive tackles for football and is the head coach for boys’ and girls’ powerlifting. In the past, he taught biology, IPC (integrated physics and chemistry), aquatic science, environmental systems, and adaptive PE.
“My favorite part of teaching is being a second-generation teacher for LCM, and since I’m an alumnus of LCM, being able to teach science for the community that instilled in me my love for science,” Snoddy said.
Teaching science is important to Snoddy, and he wants to make sure that all of his students understand how important it is.
“My goals are the continuance of building positive relationships with students and teaching them tools to be successful in their future life,” Snoddy said.
According to Snoddy, 95% of his students passed the 2025 STAAR Biology test, which is one of his favorite memories from teaching. Outside of teaching, Snoddy dedicates lots of time to coaching football and powerlifting and makes sure that his players are just as dedicated.
“My favorite part of coaching is being able to coach for the same teams I played for in high school and pushing my players and lifters to an ability to which they might not believe they can get to,” Snoddy said.
According to Snoddy, the biggest challenge he faces when coaching is having his players not take their time on the team for granted.
“Just this last week, I had four former players that I coached come by for a visit, and each one of them talked about how much they missed playing football and the things they wish they could have done differently,” Snoddy said.
Coaching plays a major part in Snoddy’s life. Just like teaching, he has many memories from it that he holds dear.
“My favorite memory is when one of my lifters, Carson Phelps, won a state championship for his weight class,” Snoddy said. “Another favorite memory was advancing to the fourth round of playoffs for football in 2021.”
At the end of the day, Snoddy prioritizes teaching his students and players valuable life lessons. Keeping his students on task and ensuring work gets submitted on time is important for their success—just like how his players must constantly practice and know their plays to be successful.
“Even though a student might not need what a lesson is about in their everyday future life, the process of learning how to learn and gaining those neural pathways will be of benefit to their future lives,” Snoddy said.
