'I'm proud to say that I have been fortunate enough to stay in one place, and it's home'

FOSTORIA -- Youngsters often leave for college with hopes of leaving their hometown behind for the most part.Such was not the case for Fostoria's Kim Fant-Cousin.The Ohio State alumna wanted to return to her hometown to teach and coach. She did just that in 1985, and she's done it ever since.She's completed 26 seasons as the head boys and girls cross country at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School and she's close to wrapping up her 20th year as head boys and girls coach in track and field. In the past, she has served as head girls track and field coach, an assistant in track and field, cross country and volleyball, and eight years as head volleyball coach.But for one spring of coaching track and field at the former St. Wendelin High School, Fant-Cousin has done all of her 40 years of coaching in the Fostoria school system. She's also taught physical education for 39 years after spending her first two years as a substitute teacher.She's grateful for the time she's been able to work at a place where she's either coached or had connections to several state-championship qualifiers, including a few who claimed state titles. Fant-Cousin, herself, was part of a 1,600-meter relay team that went to state in 1980."I'm proud to say that I have been fortunate enough to stay in one place, and it's home," she said. "Somebody just invested in me right out of college and felt as though I could do the job and took me under their wing. I look at Carl Fisher for trusting me to do the job under him, when I coached with him for a little bit in cross, and I coached a little bit with Del Nichols in volleyball when I came out of college."I've had a pretty good run with the sports that I participated in as an athlete at Fostoria, so just to be able to try and help continue that tradition has been a passion of mine."Along with teaching and coaching, Fant-Cousin has been involved with Fostoria youth through church activities and by teaching driver's education for more than 20 years.What she's done since her return to Fostoria has put her in high regard with Fostoria athletic director Thom Loomis, who graduated from FHS two years ahead of Fant-Cousin and worked for seven years as head basketball coach at his alma mater."I don't use this term loosely about people, but she's one of those coaches who you're truly going to have to call a legend," he said. "To have coached and taught in the same school for 40 years, that's rare air. When you have sustained that, to me, that just totally fits our (school) mission: 'Inspire. Succeed. Leave a Legacy.' She's done all of that in the classroom, in the community and as a coach. You can't pigeonhole her in one spot. She's active in her community."It's not like, 'Oh, she's just a legend because she did it for a long time.' She's a legend because she's so well-rounded in everything that she does and everything that she's brought to our school and community and given to our kids. To me, that would be the fitting moniker for that type of person that Kim Cousin is. She's going to go down as an all-time legend to me."Loomis pointed to the relationships that Fant-Cousin has had with her athletes as being important in their development."Kim has taken a lot of these young people and raised them up in ways that young kids didn't know that they were capable of because of her guidance and leadership. That's a tribute to her and her teaching ability and her coaching style."He added: "She's real even-keeled. She holds kids to high standards and has high expectations for them, but she's never overhanded in her demeanor with them. It's just one of those things that when coach Cousin speaks, kids know that she means business and they know, I think, that she knows her stuff and if they rise to the level of her expectations, their degree of success can be infinitely improved."Kim certainly develops good relationships with all of her kids, and I think the trust comes because the first thing with kids is they need to know that you care, and Kim always cares. When that feeling is imparted to kids, the trust is there and then, just great relationships develop."Fant-Cousin knows that she's put in more days as a teacher and coach than she has remaining, and she has experienced mixed emotions as she's thought about retirement."One day, I think one way, and then the next day, I think another way," she said. "(Working with youth) is all I know. You know what I mean? And when I run into past students or past athletes and we get a chance to share memories about a season or the relationships that we've had ... those are the kinds of things that make me feel that I do what I do because of the love for what I do and for the kids. ... But, we can't stay forever and that's what I have to keep telling myself, but as long as I feel well and the kids are willing to put in the time and the effort to do the things we're trying to provide for them to do, I'll still have that question mark."