From the full classes that he teaches to the relationships that students at our high school experience, Fitchett has become a well known name in the student community, but a new job at Cedar Hills Church may provide students with a chance of a different type of relationship.

Q: What is your title at this new job?

A: The student ministry leader. It’s similar to a youth pastor, but as student ministry leader I don’t have a degree in ministry or anything, I think that’s kind of the difference. It’s very pastoral role, but it’s also a role in which you’re’ putting volunteers in the right places. So student ministry leader yes.

Q: What initially started you on your way to this new position?

A: Probably when I was in high school. I was always worried I was going to be sent to Africa as a missionary and I distinctly remember praying “don’t send me to Africa”, but if you would’ve told me then, when I was in high school, you can either go to Africa or work at Cedar Hills church I probably would’ve chosen Africa, because I was pretty judgmental and biased against Cedar Hills. Then I ended up doing the teaching thing, and a couple years ago First Baptist, the church I go to here, offered me a similar position, a part-time student ministry youth pastor. I was teaching full time and doing the baseball job, so I just didn’t have time, but that was the first little thing of like “Oh! I would like doing that!”. Then this August, Tasha Albertson who is on the search committee for Cedar Hills, called me and said “We have this opening, and we think you’d be good for it. Why don’t you think about it?”, and when I thought about it I thought “No, there’s no way I can do that. I just don’t have time.” Then I was out working in the woods and I thought about it more and more and I thought “Hmmm, that could be fun”, because coaching baseball, I love the guys that I get to work with and I like spending time with them, but I don’t really love baseball, is what I’ve realized. So I thought this is something where could do everything I love at the same time.

Q: What would you say is your vision for the youth ministry, what do you plan to change?

A: I don’t know that I really want to change anything, I really just want to help people become the people they were meant to be and just love god, love others, love yourself.

Q: How do you think it’s going so far? I know you just started, but how do you feel about it?

A: Good. I mean just the fact of helping people be authentic with their faith and with who they are, and whatever they’re doing I think is what is important. That’s what makes me excited, is there’s people who want to be real and want to be genuine; with each other and with God, so it’s going great.

Q: Do you think this new position is going to affect your teaching in any way, or your life at school?

A: I don’t think so. I think one thing that will be interesting is that I tried to keep the fact that I was a baseball coach on the down low at school, in terms that I didn’t really talk about it and that people didn’t know that about me, just because I didn’t want it to affect the way that they saw me, and this one, it’s kind of an interesting balance in terms of that I want the same sort of thing, I don’t want people to see me as like “oh this is the guy that also has that other job at a church”, but at the same time I want to be genuine and authentic and that’s apart of what I’m doing. I don’t think so, but it might. That’s one of the things that I’m worried about with this, how does it affect who I am at school.

Q: Have you had any reactions, or do you expect any reactions from students?

A: I don’t know, even just before I even really knew that it was public knowledge, students were coming up to me and saying “Hey, I heard this is a possibility, that’d be really cool, maybe we’d come check it out”, and that was really reaffirming to me because the whole reason I am doing it is for students and so if they don’t care, why would I do it? So I think that was a really positive thing.

Q: Is there anything that you want the students of Sandpoint High School to know about this?

A: No. I’m still here, and I’m still me.