Tim Walz was named ‘most inspiring teacher’ — and other memories from former students

As a teacher and coach at Mankato West High School, Tim Walz gave out hallway high-fives, was named “most inspiring teacher,” motivated students to become educators themselves and helped create a turnaround story for the football team.

Now governor of Minnesota and the vice presidential pick on the Democratic presidential ticket, Walz is still remembered fondly by his former students and players.

“He was probably one of the most well-liked teachers in the school while he taught there,” said Katie Heintz, 41, who had Walz as a teacher her junior year of high school and is now the director of a library in the area.

His lectures on topics like history and government have stuck with her to this day, she said.

He really taught both sides of everything,” she said. “He wasn’t pushy about, you know, right or left or whatever.”

He was also an influential assistant coach who mentored students beyond the field and helped lead the football team to a state championship.

Both Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, worked at Mankato West, and Tracy Frederick Corcoran, 41, took classes with both of them.

“Between Tim and Gwen, those were two people in the high school that were always there for students,” she said. “Both Tim and Gwen had this magic of helping you see possibilities and potential in yourself that maybe you didn’t actually know was there.”

Walz, a Nebraska native, moved to Mankato after having served in the military for almost 20 years. It’s a city of around 45,000 people 80 miles south of Minneapolis, and residents describe it as the ideal place to raise a family.

Both Corcoran and Heintz, Walz’s former students, moved back to Mankato years after graduation to raise their families. They’ve seen their old teacher a handful of