Who doesn’t love a good burger and fries? North Penn has their rendition of the combo that is just a little different. They have both recently switched job titles at the high school. Mr. Christopher Frey is now the student activities director and Mr. Kyle Berger is the interim athletic director.

CATCH UP ON FREY’S LATEST MOVE 

From an athletic trainer, to teacher, assistant principal, advisor, CHIP program director, and now director of student activities at North Penn High School, Frey has seen it all through unique circumstances.

In the early 2000s during his experience in graduate school at West Chester University, Frey interviewed for a position as athletic trainer, but he was told soon after that he would have to be a teacher too. Frey has never taught a day in his life up to that point. 

“I started here 23 years ago as an athletic trainer, then an opportunity came up and it is a crazy story. The guy before me I knew from college. He was a trainer that went here and he taught. Oddly enough, he always wanted to go to the FBI and he got in,” Frey said. “I got this job and then I saw him. He was delayed in the FBI. He was supposed to go in the summer and then he was delayed till the fall, so he decided to stay at work. He was going to teach and I was a trainer. Then 9/11 happens and they shut down the FBI academy. He stays up until the end of the first semester. Then what happened was that everyone was investigating 9/11 and they opened up the DHS, so the guy gets called.”

The call said something along the lines of “You gotta be here next week, San Diego, to get into the FBI, in the academy,” Frey said.

He left and there was about a month left in the school year and an athletic training class needed a teacher to help them review for the final. The principal at the time called Frey and that is how Frey’s teaching career at North Penn started.

“For two years I taught half-day, then I was an athletic trainer. Then I taught full-day, just teaching for about seven years,” Frey said.

Come 2011, Frey took a position as the assistant principal at Pennbrook for the year under a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) opportunity. 

“One year there and then I came right back to the high school in 2012. I started teaching and [class] advising,” Frey said.

In January of 2021, Frey joined the committee that started the Community-Hosted Internship Program, or CHIP. For more info on the CHIP program at North Penn High School, the Knight Crier advises you to check out Class of 2023 graduate Khushi Patel’s experience with CHIP. 

Fast forward to the fall of 2023, the seat of North Penn High School’s athletic director becomes vacant via Don Walsh’s retirement. 

The director of student activities at the time, Berger, ended up taking Walsh’s seat as interim athletic director. As a former wrestler for the high school, college baseball and football athlete, PIAA official for wrestling, and wrestling coach for the high school, Berger has a plethora of experience in athletics.

However, this left the position of director of student activity vacant until duty called for Frey. His new job responsibilities vary from his old responsibilities as the CHIP advisor. 

“We’re a public school, and multi-million dollars are being spent, but there are certain processes and procedures that have to happen. My job is to help the clubs [plan through checks and balances] do that planning with them, and to act as a liaison between the clubs and the principal,” Frey explained. “Whether it is someone who wants to make a club, someone who wants to make a tournament, or do something, [my job is] to make this high school experience good for you [students].” 

BERGER ON A ROLL IN NEW JOB AT NPHS

Along with Frey’s new responsibilities, Berger also made a career swap from the activities director to the interim athletic director.

Berger, a Class of ‘99 North Penn grad, was a sports journalist enthusiast even since he was introduced to the career. In college, he decided to major in journalism and had many unique opportunities during his time in university.

“I went to the University of Miami as a broadcast journalism major. I went there to be a play-by-play commentator. That was my Plan-A, if you will. I had the opportunity to do play-by-play for the University of Miami’s football team, basketball team, and baseball team. All of them played in the championship level while I was there which was great,” Berger reminisced.

After attending the University of Miami, Berger just couldn’t seem to stay down south. I mean, who would? 

“I came back home and I wound up getting a job in Vermont broadcasting baseball there. Then I worked for a summer with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in Delaware,” Berger explained. “After that season in Wilmington, in ‘05, a job came up here at the high school teaching television. They needed someone to replace Mr. Gillmer because he was being pulled into administration.”

The urgent need for a television teacher seemed perfect for Berger. He explained how the job opening was an ideal career opportunity. 

“It was the right place and the right time. I did not go to school to be a teacher, but I wound up taking classes while I was teaching to get certified because TV teachers are not easy to find. I was given what’s called an emergency certificate so you could teach but you had to take classes at the same time. Ultimately, by 2009, I had my teaching certificate,” Berger said.

All of the separate periods of schooling all accumulated for a lot of time spent in the classroom. For Berger, the time in the classroom never seemed to end.

“If you had told me in June of 1999 when I graduated here that I was going to spend this much more time in school, I would have said you are crazy. You never stop learning,” Berger said.

Berger’s time spent in a school will dramatically change in his new position as North Penn’s new Athletic Director. 

“With student activities I had time in my schedule. Lots of paperwork stuff and approving purchases and student travel,” Berger explained. “There weren’t a ton of nights and weekends. That’s the biggest change with athletics. It’s a full time job and then some. I will not be home a single night this week because of our teams doing well in the playoffs. That’s a good problem to have, but the hours have certainly been different.”

The shift from being the Director of Student Activities to the Athletic Director was a knowingly big jump for Berger. Even though the schedule seemed daunting at first, Berger is sure that with time, he will be able to adjust.

“It was almost like an immediate adjustment. There’s no easing into this position. I equated it to just being thrown into the deep end. Mr. Walsh is helping me with transitions and stuff like that. There are times when I just have to call and ask because I don’t know and fortunately he has been very helpful with that,” Berger detailed.

Mr. Don Walsh, the former Athletic Director, has acted as a mentor for Berger. Berger’s perseverance and Walsh’s positive reinforcement prove that nothing can get in their way.

“Mr. Walsh and I have known each other for years. He was an assistant principal when I started teaching here before he went to Lower Merion to be the athletic director for a couple of years,” Berger explained. “We have a good relationship which helped the transition. What also helped is that he is still in the building. It’s not like I am replacing someone that retired and left and is in the Caribbean somewhere and won’t answer an email.”

With support from faculty and his dreams of pursuing a career just like this, Berger is ready to take on the challenge of athletic directing. 

“I fully intend to do the best job I can this year and I will be more than happy to continue in the future,” Berger remarked.

The dynamic duo are set in their positions and are ready to serve up new activities and sports schedules this year. A Berger and Freys never disappoints.