Mitch Giacone never planned on becoming a teacher. He wasn't sure of much when he first left Benton for college, other than the fact that he loved sports and loved being around kids. Five years, three colleges, and a couple of changed majors later, he's landed in Benton Grade School, teaching fifth grade social studies and coaching baseball for the Rangers.

"I always say I envy people that know right away," Giacone said of choosing his path. "I had no idea." He started at Rend Lake College as an undeclared major, then spent two years at Ole Miss thinking he might coach someday. After briefly considering physical therapy, he realized science wasn't for him. Then, with opportunities to coach basketball and baseball back home, transferring to Southern Illinois University for his final two years of school felt right. “I kind of just missed home." Once at SIU, his classroom observations sealed the deal on teaching itself. "I really kind of started to think, hey, I think I could really do this," he said.

He's the head baseball coach for the Rangers, leaning on two assistants. One is Mr. McClintock, a longtime friend. "Coach McClintock is my age, so we went to high school together," Giacone said. The other is Carson Hobbs, still finishing his degree at SIU, whose father, Jason Hobbs, once taught Giacone. "He was my American history teacher in my junior year, and he was my basketball coach all through high school," Giacone said of Jason Hobbs. "I got to student teach with him. I got to coach with him. I get to now coach with his son."

Middle school boys’ baseball is only part of his coaching load this year. Giacone also serves as an assistant basketball coach and assistant baseball coach at the high school, a role he's held for three years, although this is his first time doing it while also teaching full time.

Fifth grade reading instructor Char Mumbower has filled a mentoring role for him this fall, guiding Giacone through his rookie season in the classroom after having taught him herself. "Having her as a mentor, knowing her for so long, she was my third grade teacher," he said. "She's been a huge impact."

Returning to work in his hometown hasn't been without its adjustments, but Giacone said the community has made the shift painless. "A lot of the staff here, they got mad at me for saying this on the first day, but were my instructors growing up," he said with a laugh. What sold him on staying local is the closeness a place like Benton offers. "Everybody knows everybody, and the support of everybody around you is just amazing," he said.

His days now run from morning lessons to afternoon practice, often followed by a drive to another town for a game as the Rangers push toward regionals. Giacone says his favorite part is simply the connection he's built with students, many of whom wander into his room during morning duty just to chat before the bell rings. His growing edge, he admits without hesitation, is classroom management. "I gotta get a little bit meaner," he joked, though his patience with the kids clearly runs deep. Keeping five different classes, each with its own personality, focused and on task is still a work in progress.

He describes his fifth graders as youngsters experiencing everything for the first time, from switching rooms between subjects to spinning open their first locker combination. "Everything's so new to them, and it's cool seeing them figure it out," he said, contrasting them with the eighth graders down the hall who already "think they run the school."

Family runs deep in Giacone's story too. His mother owns Kimmel-Chaplain Pharmacy, and his father serves as Franklin County Circuit Judge after decades practicing law in Carbondale. His younger sister recently left for her freshman year at Murray State, chasing a lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian.

Giacone's focus stays close to the diamond where he once played and the desks where he now leads. "There aren't very many people that graduate and get to teach at the school they want to teach at, the subject they want to teach, and coach the sport they want to coach," he said. "So I've been very lucky." Rangers’ families are fortunate too, gaining an instructor living out exactly the life he was built for.