Instructors: Ohio
Jeremy Best
Jeremy Best has served in the education and coaching professions for 16 years. His undergraduate work was completed in 1996 at Bluffton College, with a degree in Elementary Education/Special Education. In 2002 he earned his Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Bowling Green State University. He has taught at various levels ranging from fifth grade to seniors in high school. Best has taught 10 of his 16 years in special education classrooms. He currently is an Intervention Specialists at the middle school level.
Jeremy has coached various sports including track (2yrs), football (2yrs), baseball (2yrs), and golf (10yrs) over the span of his sixteen years. He has been a head basketball coach for 13 years, 9 of those years at Convoy Crestview High School. His 2002-03 team played in the OHSAA Division IV State Championship Game. He is a member of the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association and District 8 Coaches Association. Jeremy is married to Jennifer and they have two children, Ethan (8) and Lillie (4). In his spare time he enjoys his family, golf, and exercise.
Lee Day
Lee Day has been instructing summer leadership courses for Educational Resources since 2003. With the 2010-11 school year, he will have completed 32 years in education. Lee graduated from Ohio Northern University with a Mathematics degree in education in 1979 and then earned his Masters in counseling from Xavier University in 1983. After teaching high school math for 4 years he began working as a part-time guidance counselor in conjunction with his classroom teaching. Then in 1990 he became head of the guidance department at Lebanon High School and continues to serve in that capacity. Lee has coached sophomore basketball (1 year), varsity football (9 years of which 3 as head coach), reserve golf for 14 years and reserve baseball 2 years. This year he just completed his 8th year as the head golf coach. At the completion of the 2010 baseball season, Lee retired as Lebanon’s Head Varsity coach after 29 years. He continues to serve on the state baseball coaches association executive board.. Lee also has officiated high school and college basketball for 31 years. He has been fortunate to have worked four OHSAA state championship basketball tournaments.. He is a member of the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2000) and a member of the Middletown Basketball Officials Association Hall of Fame (2006).
In his spare time, Day enjoys playing golf. He and his wife Jodi of 30 years have two sons, Trevor and Clint. Both boys played golf and baseball at Lebanon High School and earned many academic and athletic awards. Trevor lives and works in Charlotte, NC and Clint just completed a finance degree from Miami University and is employed at LCNB National Bank in Lebanon.
Tom Held
Tom Held is the current Head Baseball Coach (1999 – present) at the Defiance High School in Northwest Ohio. In 1984, he earned his teaching degree in Comprehensive Business Education from Defiance College. In 1995, he earned his Masters of Education in Administration from the University of Toledo. He coached basketball for 13 years at Elmwood and Bryan High School. With the upcoming 2009 season, Tom has coached baseball for 22 years and 21 as a head coach at Elmwood, Bryan and Defiance. He was the Ohio Coach of the Year in 1999 & 2008. Tom is also a member of the Acme Baseball Board of Directors. He has had the fortune to have over 70 former players go on to play college baseball and five have played professionally. Currently tour former Bulldogs are in the Major leagues (Chad Billingsley – LA Dodgers, Jon Niese – NY Mets) and two in the minor leagues (Tyler Burgoon – Seattle Mariners, Justin Hancock – San Diego Padres.) He was inducted into the Ohio HS Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame 2012. Tom resides in Defiance with his wife, Deanne, and has three children, Chayse, 28, Cassidy, 16, and Cal, 11.