“I am still coaching,” Page said. “I’m coaching the most significant game ever and that’s called life. That’s what we’re doing, helping them navigate life and you’d be amazed at how well they listen.”
Rodney Page has a passion for molding young lives. Whether it’s coaching basketball, teaching health, or mentoring, Page has worked with thousands of students and adults during his 44-year career in public schools and universities.
Page was recently honored at the University of Texas at Austin, where he began his career, leading the women’s basketball program as the first African-American head coach. Under bright lights in the Frank Erwin Center, Page was welcomed back with a standing ovation.
His time as a successful Longhorn coach created a ripple effect, driving a passion for working with students of all ages, which jumpstarted his career in public schools.
“My experience at UT prepared me for everything else,” Page said. “It’s all connected and just part of God’s plan for my life.”
Page taught health and physical education for 14 years in elementary and middle schools in Austin ISD before joining the founding faculty of McNeil High School in 1992. While Page primarily served as a basketball coach and health teacher, his biggest endeavor began in 2000 when he created two mentoring groups in partnership with the late Jinx Lacey, the school’s crisis counselor.
Working with students, both one-on-one and in group settings, gave Page an opportunity to affect change in young adult’s lives while living his motto — Learn, Grow, Expand. While Page retired from his time at McNeil in 2004, he continued his work as a mediation consultant at the school.
“I’m always growing, learning, and expanding,” Page said. “Sometimes that takes some conflict and some challenge to propel me forward and that’s how I look at life. McNeil was a challenging place for me, but that’s what has launched and propelled so much growth.”
Page now works with Success High School students in the Phoenix Rising Young Men’s Group, which meets twice each week. Page not only brings 44 years of experience in education to the young men, he also shares his life growing up in a racially segregated society and his journey through integration.
The son of a successful hotel owner, Page was raised around accomplished African-American individuals, including Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Robinson and Louis Armstrong — an experience that informs his work with the men’s group.
“Rodney Page is a truth teller and he does not see children as victims,” Success Principal Thomasine Stewart said. “As educators, we’re all looking for people who have the ability to reach in and bring out finer qualities in students. He has that ability and will always profess, ‘I’m not here to change you,’ but he does illuminate their strengths.”
The tight-knit community at Success serves as a perfect environment to participate in deep mentoring and life coaching for both students and adults. To help the whole community, Page often works with teachers to understand the students and how to best deal with struggling young adults, said Community Education Director Lisa Greinert.
“There are people that you meet in your life that you know are there for the same reasons you are,” Greinert said. “My passion is working with students who struggle and I saw that in him too. You could see the passion is had every time he talked about a child and the belief that any child could succeed.”
At 67 years of age, Page is in a period of reflection and is eager to continue sharing his passion for helping people. His career began with basketball, but Page said he is now leading young adults down a more important journey.
“I am still coaching,” Page said. “I’m coaching the most significant game ever and that’s called life. That’s what we’re doing, helping them navigate life and you’d be amazed at how well they listen.”
