08/10/2026
Professional athlete to independent school teacher may seem like a rare path. But at SAAS, it’s not uncommon. Several former professional athletes now channel their passion, grit, and drive for constant growth into creating a phenomenal educational experience for our students.
Take Ginnie Crawford, math teacher, Middle School dean, and basketball and track & field coach at SAAS, who draws on her background as a professional athlete on the regular.
In a math class at SAAS this fall, the 8th graders in the room had fallen completely silent. Their eyes were glued to Ginnie as she captivated their attention with tales from her time as a professional track and field athlete, competing on Team USA
There are 10 hurdles in a race, Ginnie explained. During practice, she’d run the hurdles 20 times. How many hurdles did she jump each practice? (Students did the math: 10 x 20 = 200.) That’s what it took to prepare for a race. That’s the power of repetition. “The more you practice something, the better you get,” Ginnie said. “This is why we have independent practice in math.”
A drive for continuous growth and improvement underlies it all. “As an athlete, you’re wired to try to be the best in the world,” says Ginnie, “and that goes anywhere with you.” As a dean and a teacher, “I’m always trying to better myself and create the best experience possible for kids,” she says.
Read more about SAAS’s legacy of elite athletes as educators here: https://issuu.com/seattleacademy/docs/saas_in_focus_vol._8_-_middle_school_2026_/61
