Alumni Profile: Joe Norton

Joe Norton earned a starting defensive back spot during his sophomore and junior seasons at Frostburg.  (Courtesy of Dave Norton)

By: Steve Giles

Mount St. Joseph graduate Joe Norton has been learning his whole life. This is not a very bold statement for a 20-year-old in his final year of college. But aside from the countless hours spent with his nose in the books over the years, he has also had the privilege of having two of his very own teachers right at home. Both Dave and Ann Norton have been professional educators for the better part of their lives, which is a big reason why their son also wants to become a teacher one day.

Joe's mother Ann teaches first grade at Jeffers Hill Elementary School and his father Dave is the vice principal at Mount St. Joseph High School, where he also teaches math and where he has also coached the varsity baseball team for over 25 years.

With his role models at home, Joe decided to follow in the footsteps of his parents' career choice and is currently seeking to be an elementary school teacher. He is on schedule to graduate this spring with a degree in social science from Frostburg University.

Joe spent the past few summers working as a camp counselor at Mt. St. Joseph as well as helping out his mother with her students at Jeffers Hill Elementary. He gained a great deal of knowledge from those experiences, but more importantly he figured out he loves teaching kids and wants to make a career out of doing just that.

Outside of the classroom, Joe is an outstanding athlete who excels on the soccer field as well as the baseball diamond. He played both soccer and baseball growing up and continued that trend into high school. He was recruited by colleges for both sports and received letters from schools such as UMBC and Frostburg. Since his father was a baseball coach it seemed destined that Joe would further his baseball career in college and beyond. But upon visiting with some different schools, he decided playing soccer at Frostburg was the way to go.

"I really liked soccer and baseball," Norton said. "But I felt like with my athletic ability I was more inclined to be a better soccer player. Plus I really liked the soccer team at Frostburg."

And breaking the news to dad wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be.

"Of course he thought I should play baseball, but he was OK with me choosing soccer," Norton said. "He told me to do whatever made me happy and in the end, that was playing soccer."

But the day he stepped foot on a college soccer field, Joe quickly realized things were going to be a little different than playing in high school.

"When you're a senior in high school, you think you're the biggest guy out there. But once you get to college, the guys you're playing against are much bigger and the speed of the game is much faster. It took a while to get used to," Norton said.

Eventually he got used to the style of play and earned a starting defensive back spot during his sophomore and junior seasons. One thing he didn't have to get used to was the team unity between his fellow players, which is something he was accustomed to at his time at Mt. St. Joe.

"Me and the guys I played with in high school were all pretty tight. At St. Joe there was a real big emphasis on being a team and it made me understand the team concept much better when I got to college," Norton said.

"Now that I'm in college, I'm with my teammates all the time," he said. "They are the same guys I travel with, party with and hang out with. So the team concept has definitely carried over from high school."

For his senior year, Norton has made the difficult decision not to play soccer as he takes a heavy course load and focuses in on another goal -- graduating from college in four years.

Having played in countless games and under many different circumstances, Norton has many great memories from the years on the field. But there is one that stands out above all the rest.

"I would have to say winning the state championship in baseball with my dad in my junior year was my favorite moment. It was the first time St. Joe had won states in a while and I was glad I got to share that with my dad," Norton said.

Another thing Norton hopes to share with his dad, and mom for that matter, is the satisfaction of knowing he has changed people's lives by teaching them.

Posted October 7, 2008