"I'm an interesting breed in schools these days because I have such a diverse role," Denver West High School teacher Rich Chainhalt says minutes before kids begin filtering in for his afternoon class April 17.

Besides teaching five classes in the social studies department, Chainhalt is the head coach of the baseball, girls softball and boys basketball teams. The multitude of school activities he packs into his days can seem life-consuming, but he says the satisfaction he receives is gratifying.

On a typical day, Chainhalt arrives at school between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m. After his classes are over, he heads over to hold practice for one of the sports he is coaching. When practice is done, it's time for Chainhalt to coach a game for a different sport. On April 17, for example, he held baseball practice when school let out, then took his spring basketball team to Denver North High for an 8 p.m. game. Chainhalt says he usually isn't finished with school-related activities until around 9 p.m.

He is involved with so many of the school's programs in part because he wants to help rectify a negative trend he has noticed.

"We're seeing a lack of participation in inner-city schools," he says. In his 28 years of high school teaching and coaching, 15 of them spent at Denver West, he says getting students to become involved in sports, theater, music and other school activities has become increasingly challenging.

On the baseball diamond and basketball court, Chainhalt tries to impart lessons that he hopes will trickle into the players' everyday lives.

"We teach the intrinsic value of sports as opposed to records and championships," he says. Denver West's baseball team hasn't won a game yet this year, but that fact doesn't faze Chainhalt, a one-time baseball player who worked his way up to the AAA club for the Oakland Athletics organization.

The records fail to show that the team has had some tight games, the players are close and have fun at practices and they are ready to seize their opportunity to win when it presents itself, he says.

Because Chainhalt spends the bulk of his time at school, he tries to fill his personal life with relaxing activities such as golf and spending time with family. But he admits that to outward appearances, it might seem as though he's overextending himself.

"Some people would question whether I do have a healthy balance," Chainhalt says. However, he mentions that he has endured the deaths of two of his own children - one was in a car accident and one was killed in a shooting. For that and other reasons, "West has kind of become my family," and being a part of the students' lives makes the long hours worthwhile for him, he says.

Alumni from 10 to 15 years ago still stop by to visit Chainhalt, which lets him know that he has been successful when it comes to living by the creed he and other Denver West teachers have adopted.

"Our motto here is 'Cowboys to the heart.' They get into your heart and you get into theirs," he says.