Finding Their Beat:  Senior Brock Rider is inspired to pursue music and sports from his close relationship with choir teacher Ken Foley.

Seeing senior Brock Rider on the stage in the Dan Zollars Auditorium doesn't make a lot of sense. He’s a big, bulky football player, labeled All-State Defensive Lineman in Kansas last year.

Since Rider’s first steps, he’s been playing football. Whether it’s running touchdown passes or lifting weights during the off-season, he's always doing something revolving around a small leather football.

His dad, Derrick Rider, who coached Rider at multiple levels, including elementary into high school, has seen it firsthand.

“From an early age, Brock loved sports,” Derrick said. “He was a ball boy for the team at East [SM East] starting in second grade and was around practices and games all the time.”

He’s someone you’d expect to spend most of his time on the football field wearing a Columbia Blue jersey and tackling every person in sight, not in an auditorium where the goal is blending in instead of standing out.

But that’s exactly why he fits, according to Rider.

During his junior year, Rider decided to join a new extracurricular on top of football: Choir.

And while stepping into something completely different and new seemed terrifying, according to Rider, there was one person who changed that — choir teacher Ken Foley.

Similar to Rider, Foley was involved in music and sports. Throughout his childhood, Foley played soccer from the age of six and became the goalie and team captain for the Cincinnati University soccer team in college.

Foley played the trumpet throughout high school and later joined choir in college while studying music education. He then attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City to receive his master’s in choir conducting.

As Rider became more involved in choir, he grew a strong connection with Foley. After the bell, Rider would stay after class and talk with Foley over their shared interests.

Even students began to notice their close relationship and how similar they are: Rider's choir co-president, senior Choralist and Chamber Choir member Molly Minor, has noticed their friendship grow constantly.

“I feel like they’re both really optimistic and empathetic towards anyone and everything,” Minor said. “They have really bonded over everything, including music.”

As they grew closer, they’ve created memories that neither will forget.

Standing alone at the Rockefeller Center fountain and ice skating rink while on the choir's spring break trip, Foley came over and gave Rider a hug and told him how thankful he was for him out of appreciation for Rider.

Although it was a small gesture, Rider will never forget that moment of kindness from Foley.

“He’s the greatest teacher that you could possibly imagine,” Rider said. “The thing that makes Mr. Foley the most special is how much he truly cares about his students and the love he shows us every single day.”

Foley has inspired Rider to pursue his music career and become a teacher. He’d had conversations with Foley about teaching and has received invaluable advice from him on working as a team and being an overall good teacher.

Foley describes Rider as a team player, and he’s created a motto that has stuck with Rider every day: “Many singers, one voice.” Rider attributes that to his role as choir president and as a choir member among his peers.

“I relate sports to choir all the time, and I'm all about the team, and he seems to be the same,” Foley said. “He’s a team player in all the things he does in sports, but he's also very much a team player in music.”

Seeing how similar Foley is to Rider gives Rider a hopeful glance at what he could become one day. Without Foley teaching at SM East, Rider’s journey would’ve been completely different.

After high school, Rider’s goal is to publish and perform his music in concerts, as well as major in music and secondary education at Pittsburg State University. 

He also hopes to continue playing football at Pitt State; however, due to a knee injury that benched him nearly the whole football season, his decisions aren’t final.

“The really cool thing is that I get to learn from Mr. Foley as a choir student, but every day I am also learning from him as a future teacher and how I want to be just like him,” Rider said.