Kate Johnson is commended around the CCS campus for the excellent dedication she puts into her job and the relationships she forms within the high school student body. She not only prioritizes the responsibilities of her position, but aims to meet the needs of every student she encounters. Although many students have had the privilege to stop by her desk for a quick conversation, many do not know her journey before coming to CCS.

Johnson grew up in a small town in California for the first several years of her life. She moved to a farm in Wyoming and then later to Illinois.  Johnson grew up in a non-Christian household, with two working parents and two brothers, the younger having special needs. Johnson was the middle child, having a close relationship especially with her younger brother as she helped him with school. Johnson began her swimming career at the age of 10, late to the sport. She ended up winning a state championship in California, later swam for Team Wyoming at the western zones at age 12 and made it to the Olympic trials at age 15.

During her high school years, Johnson moved to Illinois, where she attended two different high schools and also studied abroad in Spain. While in Illinois, she attended a small rural school where the offerings were limited. However, she took every chance to push herself in Advanced Placement courses that led her to spend a year in Spain. By the end of her high school swim career, Johnson had broken every school record on the board.

Due to the remoteness of her small-farm-school in Illinois, Johnson had very little help or resources on her journey to college. Johnson began her college journey in California at a junior college, Saddleback. Once she got to Saddleback, Johnson walked on to the swim team and was immediately recruited to play water polo too. Within that same year, she was the most improved and MVP on the team. As a result, she ended up with a full scholarship for her first two years at the junior college to swim and play water polo. 

During her time at Saddleback, Johnson was majoring in biology on a pre-med track with a minor in Spanish. Her parents had always encouraged her to be be a doctor; therefore, Johnson followed the path set before her and did not explore other possible career options. Johnson transferred to the University of Wyoming to swim. She was excited to continue to her college career and swim at the Division-one level. That excitement was temporary as she endured the college’s training program. She states, “All swim programs have different training philosophies, and my body did not adjust well to the that coach’s training philosophy.” Due to the challenges faced, she opted not to swim her senior year and transferred back to California to pursue Bible college. She spent her remaining college time volunteering in youth ministry and fell in love with investing in the next generation of children for the sake of the gospel. Having grown up around conditional love, the gospel was so impactful to Johnson in her early college years. She shares, “To know we could be loved by Jesus without doing anything was a concept I hadn’t encountered growing up.” She switched from pre-med and graduated a year later with a Youth Ministries / Organizational Leadership degree and a minor in Spanish.

Throughout college, Johnson started coaching swim teams in the summer and working at a large church in Southern California. She helped run a 500-person youth group which consisted of mission trips, summer camps and weekly small groups. She also spent her time working as an ocean lifeguard for the city of Laguna Beach.

Johnson has four incredible children, two of whom have special needs. She also has thirty chickens in the backyard! Having grown up on a farm, she desired for her children to have a similar experience on a small scale level. Outside of working in the office, Johnson coaches at a year-round club, Team Charlotte Swim. There she serves younger developmental swimmers and is also the head coach of a summer swim team at Sardis Forest. When not coaching or working, she enjoys collecting indoor plants, though they struggle to live, and having summer bonfires with her neighbors. Johnson shares “The rest of my remaining free time is spent ubering my kids to all of their sporting events and watching them thrive and enjoy the sports they’re participating in! I’m their biggest fan.”

Johnson has been serving on the CCS staff for five and a half years. After her circumstances changed and she became a single mom and needed to re-enter the workforce, she began looking for job opportunities. In years prior, she had stayed home to homeschool her children and worked part-time at a local youth ministry. She was familiar with both schooling and high school students and thought that the position at Carmel would be a great compromise.

When asked about her desire to coach swimming Johnson shares, “I have always loved to swim and have always loved to pass on the passion of swimming to others. There’s something about teaching others something that you love completely, and to see them have success in that as well.” Having two special-needs children, she also gained a greater respect for children who have a harder time learning and had the skill set to teach those children. She shares her insight on the fact that a lot of times special-needs children don’t have the same access to resources like swim lessons because they can’t participate in mainstream offerings as easily. Johnson has done research in the field of missing Autistic children that show a staggering statistic of 91% of death by drowning following elopement (the child wandering away). Johnson’s dream would be to open a special needs swim school to decrease the statistics of special needs children drowning.

Johnson has been a part of the CCS swim program for two years and it has been a highlight of her experience at Carmel. The swim team has been pioneered by many families dedicated to the sport of swimming and she has been thrilled to come alongside them to grow the program. For the second year in a row, her team has consisted of at least 15 state qualifiers, and she was able to lead the team’s first J-Term swim experience with many more on the horizon. Johnson shares, “We have some very talented swimmers at the school and my goal is to watch their dreams come true, as they continue to succeed in and outside of the pool.”

Kate Johnson is one of the most cherished staff members who will be remembered by students long after graduation. Not only for the passion and devotion she has for her position, but also for the way she truly cares for each high school student that walks through the doors of campus.