Your clues to the March 'Who Am I?' were: Cougars in Cole Field House, racquet wins in Baker Park, hall-of-famer at Shep. Prep, honorary doctorate from the Mount, still coaching the brains and the ball, mayor of mathland.

Those who guessed correctly were Kim Gerrie, Keith Delauter, Brian Smith, Bruce Loverock, Brian Rippeon, Anita Hill, Josef Wildasin, Peggy Ballew, Dwight Baumgardner, Michael Valentine, Lisa Goodhart, Anna Rausa, Tammy McCormick, Graham Ewing, Abby Ewing, Mary Michael. Their names are now part of the pool for a prize that will be awarded at the end of 2008.

I am John Koepke.

If you've attended Catoctin High School since 1980, you may have encountered a math teacher named Mr. John Koepke. In his earlier teaching years at CHS you may have noticed his distinctive walk; you may have absorbed countless math formulas he sketched on the board; you may have wondered how he could keep the chalk from ruining his signature three piece suits; you may have noticed his distinctive blond hair or his mustache.

During his first year at CHS, he coached the 1980-1 CHS Men's Basketball Team to the State Finals in Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. His accolades didn't stop there. While he continued to coach the Men's Basketball Team at CHS for 5 years, he personally played competitive tennis. At CHS, he switched his focus from sports to academics when he started coaching the "It's Academic Team", advising the National Honor Society, and teaching honors classes.

He's a 1976 graduate of Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville. He's a 1980 graduate of Shepherd College where he received bachelor's degree in Education with a certification to teach math and science. He earned his master's degree from the University of Maryland in 1985, then his doctorate. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Mt. St. Mary's College in the early 1990's. Academically, he's got brains! He's dedicated his career to mentoring his CHS students to help them recognize that they've got brains, too.

He's athletically talented. Ironically, in sixth grade, Mr. Koepke attended Blue Ridge Basketball Camp at the Mount where Coach Jim Phelan taught him how to make a free throw. Always sports minded, he played three seasons of sports at Shepherd College; basketball, tennis and diving. He was so outstanding at basketball and tennis that he was inducted into the Shepherd College Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. In basketball at Shepherd he finished as the eighth leading scorer in Rams' history with 1,116 points in only three years of competition. In tennis he was a three time West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference singles champion and two-time doubles champion.

Today he's coaching CHS Tennis and was honored in 2004 as the Girl's Tennis Coach of the Year. Team photos adorn the walls in his classroom along with pictures of his students who strive to receive a myriad of stickers on their pictures in "Mathland". Students strive to become one of the high achievers commemorated on his "Wall of Fame" for achieving perfect scores on Advanced Placement College Prep tests.

Mr. Koepke is the CHS Mathematics Department Chair and "Mayor of Mathland". When you walk through his classroom door, you've entered a meticulous learning environment where the rules and the formulas are definitive, yet fun. Mathland has rules. Students are required to be happy to enter and sad to leave Mathland. The chairs have specific locations and the residents of Mathland (the students), have specific goals and objectives that are as defined as an algebraic equation.

While Mr. Koepke's blonde hair is darker, his attire a little more relaxed and his mustache is missing, he's remained consistently true to his purpose - to coach and teach. He says, "The energy of high school students is magical." He's built 'Mathland'. He grins as he says "the best rule of Mathland is that you have to laugh at my jokes. Learning can definitely be fun."

Throughout his life, he made choices to teach and coach even when other more financially promising options presented themselves. Teaching has been his life's purpose. He says, "It's a life, not a job. People ask if I'm going to retire. Retire from what? I've never worked. It's fun!"

Who Am I? April 2008

Kiddingly called Betty Crocker as a child, recently married in Las Vegas, has 17 aunts and uncles, sports a common local name, spends a lot of time in the center of town, tends to cook things up, loves special occasions.

You can submit your answer in either of two ways. Call 301-271-4226 and leave a message or email who@thecatoctinbanner.com. Correct answers will be entered into a contest for prizes at the end of the year. Each month's winners will be revealed in the following month's issue. Each month a new "Who Am I?' will be featured plus we will reveal the answer to the previous month's local mystery figure.