MARION, Ind. | The last time Sioux Cityans saw Paige Smith, she sported Nikes. She put up her hair with a royal blue bow.
She flashed a wide smile, cried tears of joy, hugged teammates and hauled around a basketball trophy, a prize for being named Most Valuable Player of the 2013 NAIA Division II Women's National Basketball Championship at the Tyson Events Center.
That was one year ago. Smith now hauls around paints, brushes, wax, scissors and more, the tools of her trade as a rookie art teacher serving Justice Thurgood Marshall Intermediate School in Marion, Ind., the city in which she played for Indiana Wesleyan University, winner of the 2013 national title.
"This was the only interview I did and I got the job," says Smith, 23, an art education major who graduated in December and landed a job that began Jan. 6.
How did the first day on the job go?
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"It was a snow day," Smith says. "The whole first week was all snow days."
Children in Marion, Ind., she says, have celebrated a snowy winter with eight snow days. They've all come since Smith started her first job.
"We've had four weeks where we're supposed to be in school and this is our eighth snow day in that time," Smith says. "The Lord is easing me into teaching."
The daughter of Ken and Karen Smith of Fishers, Ind., attended Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., an NCAA Division II institution for a year before transferring to Indiana Wesleyan. The transfer and Smith's two-sport schedule (an All-American in basketball and for throwing the discus in track) kept her from graduating in May 2013. She returned for her final semester and did her student teaching.
When an art teacher decided to retire mid-year, Smith, who did her student teaching in Marion, landed an interview. It was her only interview.
Smith teaches six periods of fifth- and sixth-graders each day. She also has a lunch break and a prep period. She's also coaching sixth-grade girls basketball and has taken the lead in scheduling games and coordinating transportation to and from the middle school contests.
"Many of the kids knew me because I worked with Kids Hope, a mentoring program, through Frances Slouck Elem, which feeds into our school," Smith says. "And many of the kids have seen me play basketball for Indiana Wesleyan."
Being a new teacher, a new coach and a new young professional requires the discipline in time management Smith learned while excelling on the court and in the classroom at Wesleyan.
"You have the same learning curves," she says.
Smith and boyfriend Kyle Abney, a recent Indiana Wesleyan graduate now coaching track at the university, also get to their share of the Wildcats' home games.
"I miss the girls on the team and being with the team," Smith says. "Teaching and coaching are competitive, but I miss being able to go into basketball practice and competing."
Smith starred last March as the Wildcats dominated Davenport University of Grand Rapids, Mich., winning the title contest, 61-43. For her play throughout the week-long tournament, the Wildcats forward was named the event's Most Valuable Player. A huge basketball trophy was presented to her during the post-game ceremony.
"My dad cut a hole in the wall in our basement at home (in Fishers) and that's where he displays the trophy," Paige Smith says. "He keeps all those things."
While Smith enjoys teaching, coaching and bringing home a paycheck, she knows she'll miss visiting Sioux City, the place she came to love during Indiana Wesleyan's traditional spring break.
"My favorite part about Sioux City was being able to share Leah Whittaker's story with the people there," Smith says, remembering her teammate who died in 2011 at the age of 19, following a bout with stage IV liver and colon cancer. "I wore a royal blue ribbon for her, it was the color of her cancer. People would ask me about the ribbon and I'd get to tell them about Leah.
"That was better than winning it all."
