Rico Dunn: A Coach and Teacher

“I just wanted to share my passion for photography and the arts,” says Rico Dunn, a photography teacher and basketball coach.

Dunn has been teaching for 10 years. This being his third year as a photography teacher and second year coaching at silverado high. He has taught all the way from kindergarteners to seniors in high school. Also gaining experience in teaching robotics from summer school. Dunn has originally taught graphic designing in middle school and now moved to photography in high school. 

“I dabbled in photography during my undergrad while working on my bachelors of fine arts in painting and fell in love with the ability to capture a moment in time,” Dunn explains. 

Working in painting for a bachelor in fine arts has led Dunn to take his first step towards newfounded his passion. Coming from the University of Montana, he has now found the school he wants to teach at after coming from the many before. 

Before becoming a full fledged photography teacher, Dunn has already started coaching. It has made it easier for him to settle in and become friendly with more staff. “The family atmosphere here from the staff has made this a home for me and if everything goes as planned, I will retire from here twenty plus years from now,” he says.

Growing up in the gym watching his dad coach basketball, has inspired Dunn to also become a coach for the same sport. Attending his first basketball game at the age of 8 had become one of the many steps taken to become a coach. He spent one year as a member of the boys basketball coaching staff in Window Rock, Arizona in 2012-2013, and two more years as a boys head coach in Williams, Arizona from 2013-2015. In 2015-2016, Dunn filled in a few weeks for both the boys and girls basketball programs at Del H Robison middle school and 2016-2017 I coached freshman boys basketball at Clark High School and served on the varsity coaching staff. 

Finally coming to Silverado in 2017-2019, Dunn served as the freshman coach for Silverado as well as a member of the varsity staff. In 2019-2020, he was an assistant coach for both boys and girls basketball here at Silverado.  “Obviously there was no 2020-2021 season, so this will be my first year as the head coach of the girls basketball program here at Silverado,” Dunn clarified. 

To Dunn, teaching is a fluid field that teachers have to be adaptable and willing to change direction at the drop of a hat for. He says,“That’s why my philosophy is to teach in Beta, beta being a programming term for not the initial testing of a product but the initial testing with users outside the programmers.”