Assistant football coach Justin Haberman will be leaving at the end of the school year to become the head football coach at Gretna East High School.

“I’ve been teaching at Westside High School for I believe 16 years, coaching for 20,” Haberman said.

After two decades of coaching at Westside, Haberman has made the choice to follow another path.

“When they made the football head coaching change, coach Limongi got the position. I’ve always wanted to be a head coach so for me, I’m moving to Gretna to be a head coach,” Haberman said.

The coach isn’t leaving with any hard feelings towards Westside. It’s always been Haberman’s dream to be a head coach so, when Gretna East offered him the job, he took it.

“I love the red and black, I bleed the red and black, which makes it hard but, at the same time, I’m excited for a new opportunity at a new school,” Haberman said.

Although Haberman will miss Westside, he’s excited to see what the future holds for him and to meet new students and co-workers. Haberman’s current students say he’s an amazing teacher.

“He was great, he always pushed me to the farthest limit so whenever I was in class I always tried my hardest,” freshman Brooklyn Gill said.

Haberman wants to see his students succeed. He knows students can do anything they want to if they try so he pushes his students and athletes to do their best.

“One thing I have learned here at Westside is that every kid is different, and that everyone has to be treated differently but also fairly,” Haberman said.

In addition to meeting students’ individual learning needs, Haberman also makes sure he’s always treating everyone with respect.

“Haberman is a very funny person, he has a lot of character to himself so I think his interaction with students is much different than other teachers,” Gill said.

Haberman always makes it his top priority to develop relationships with all his students and has meaningful conversations with them.

“I treat everyone with respect and I think that’s really important because, if you treat kids with respect, they are going to give you respect back, and that’s something I’ll take with me everywhere,” Haberman said.

Haberman feels that no matter what someone is doing they should always be treated with respect. He plans to take everything he’s learned at Westside with him to Gretna East High School.