New Teacher Profile: Coach Les Triplett
Jackson Prep’s very own Junior High football coach Les Triplett joins the academic staff as a history teacher for the 9th grade, after being a substitute teacher in recent years.
Coach Triplett graduated from Prep in 2006 as a football player coached by Coach Ricky Black, but his history with our school goes back much farther. His father was a basketball coach for Prep from 1986 to 1993, so Triplett spent a lot of time on campus as a kid. Being so involved with the school’s faculty from such a young age influenced him into being a coach and teacher. He graduated from Mississippi State University, and returned to Jackson for teaching and coaching.
For his students, Coach Triplett wants them to understand the topic he is teaching them, whether it is new material or merely a review from the previous years. If one of his students isn’t understanding a lesson, he tries his best to make sure that they do. “I try to figure out what I did wrong, what they are not understanding, and how to explain it to them better.” Triplett also mentioned that in ten years, he hopes to still have a profession in teaching and coaching.
Even though Triplett coaches football, he is a very big fan of soccer, specifically European. He said that his favorite European soccer team is Tottenham Hotspur. “I went to London a couple years ago to watch them play,” he shared, seeming enthusiastic about the topic.
When asked what advice Mr. Triplett would share with his students, he told us to read books that we find interest in. “I wish I had read more when I was a student, and I really enjoy reading now.” He now follows that advice frequently, with his favorite book being The Lord of the Rings.
Some fun facts that he shared with us are that his brother, who he is older than by exactly one year, coaches football for Jackson Academy. When asked what his spirit animal is, he said that it is a chocolate lab, the kind of dog his parents have. Coach Triplett was a diligent student when he attended Prep, taking all honors classes, and he hopes that all of his students will go on to do the same.
