Olathe South High School Class of 1984

(Nov. 30, 1965 —          )

If you took the Sports Medicine and Exercise Science Academy at Olathe North High School, chances are your interaction with “Coach” Sarah Hanson didn’t end at graduation. Her love of students is as deep as her passion for teaching. Sarah’s career began at Oregon Trail Junior High School and took her to Olathe North where she helped develop the Sports Medicine curriculum. She wrote several successful grants enabling her to provide students with more real-world opportunities. Two former students became paramedics and reflected on how Sarah gladly wrote multiple letters of recommendation for them. They looked forward to her class each day and continued to stay in touch with their former instructor, now a lifelong friend. Photos of former students, along with the trophies and certificates her classes earned through the years, decorate her Sports Med classroom. Sarah volunteers to take nursing home residents to parks via pedicab and serves on the Shawnee Bike Advisory Board to improve the safety and quality of bike paths. The city of Shawnee proclaimed Sept. 28, 2005, Sarah Hanson and Mary Schwartz Day because the two women performed CPR on another cyclist who collapsed on a ride.