FITZGERALD HOPKINS desired to take Fayetteville City Schools’ (FCS) basketball to the next level. So he asked FCS director, Bill Hopkins, — no relation — to create a new position.
In July, FCS named Hopkins, 28, the director of basketball operations. The new appointment will allow Hopkins to be a resource for coaches and players, helping students transition from the FCS junior pro league to middle school and then to high school.
“I wanted every kid to get that opportunity that I didn’t have, just as far as coaching,” Hopkins said, “because I didn’t have that in high school. I didn’t have somebody that I could go talk basketball with or help me develop my game at that time.”
A Fayetteville native, Hopkins attended Fayetteville Junior High School and Lincoln County High School, continuing on to play collegiate basketball for four years at Freed-Hardeman University. He then transferred to Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, Missouri, to play his last year of collegiate basketball before obtaining his master’s and becoming the university’s graduate assistant and junior varsity assistant coach.
The new basketball operations director began his career at Fayetteville High School (FHS) four years ago. He now teaches personal finance and serves as the assistant boys basketball coach. He ran the junior pro basketball league for the first time last year. He will head the FCS media class this school year as well.
“He’s a great resource and is opening up his wealth of knowledge to all of our programs,” FHS athletic director Eddie Keys said, according to the FCS Facebook post. “He’s seen basketball from tons of different perspectives, and he wants to help every basketball player in the Fayetteville City Schools.”
LINCOLN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL HIRES NEW THEATER TEACHER
Lydia Marshall has been acting since the age of 5 and directing since she was 15. Now the new Lincoln County High School (LCHS) teacher is starting a whole new vision for the LCHS theater department.
The high school hired Marshall, 22, to serve as the school’s new theater teacher, early this summer. Raised in Westminster, Colorado, she is married to Thomas Marshall and is a 2022 graduate of Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where she majored in theater education and minored in Spanish.
Marshall will become the director of the school’s new theater program, called Lincoln County Theater (LCT), which will become an umbrella for the LCHS theatrical productions. All students are welcome to audition for the LCT shows.
“At the end of the day, I just really want it to be a safe place for them to come and express themselves artistically and make excellent art that nourishes their audiences and helps them personally grow as performers and people,” said Marshall, who teaches both Theater I and Advanced Theater.
She is excited to work for LCHS. The new teacher knew the school would become a nice fit for her once she learned about its need for a theater teacher. GN
