Scott Sivills – Science Teacher/Head Girls’ Basketball Coach at McCracken County High School
Catherine Sivills – Change Management Lead for Strategic Alliances with U.S. Bank
Will Sivills – Business Development, Whey Good (Memphis, Tennessee)
Jackson Sivills – college student (freshman)
Caroline Sivills – high school student (junior)
Tell us how you and your spouse met and how long you have been married.
We will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary in July. We met when we were both students at Murray State University.
Tell us about where each of you grew up and how you landed in the region.
Catherine: I grew up in Southern Illinois and came to Murray State University to attend college. After I graduated, I moved to Memphis and worked for an advertising agency until we got engaged. We were married in 1996 and lived in Murray for 19 years before moving to Paducah. We never intended on staying in Murray for that long but we both wanted to finish our master’s degrees and we both started working in jobs that we loved so we stayed. Our oldest son was born in 1998 and we knew this area was a great place to raise a family. Thankfully, through the years, I worked for Murray Hospital, Murray State University, and then Baptist Health Systems (which is what moved us to Paducah). We felt like moving to Paducah was meant to be because Scott was hired at McCracken County at the same time I was hired to work with Baptist Health. We have loved the Murray and Paducah communities. It’s definitely been a blessing for our family to live and work in such a wonderful part of Kentucky.
Scott: I grew up in Cadiz, Kentucky. I came to Murray to play basketball and was on a scholarship for four years. I stayed two more years as a graduate assistant and then started teaching and coaching. I did my student teaching at Murray Middle School and then got a full-time teaching job at Calloway County High School (teaching science and coaching the girls’ basketball team). I have coached my entire career and have built relationships with so many great players, coaches, and families. While we lived in Murray, I was able to support our alma mater and also finish my master’s degree. We moved to Paducah in 2015 and have absolutely loved it. We feel blessed to have been able to live in communities like Murray and Paducah. We’ve benefited from all the things that make up thriving small towns (schools, industries, arts, safety, and friendly neighbors and friends).
What is your favorite holiday?
Our favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. We love gathering with family with the main goal of enjoying each other’s company. No stress, no hustle and bustle. We also love Easter because it’s a reminder of restoration and renewal.
What is your favorite thing about the region?
The people – the culture of our region has to do with family values, helping and supporting others. We also love that we can be in Nashville, St. Louis, or Louisville in a few short hours.
How do you spend your summer breaks?
We love to go to Colorado. It’s our favorite vacation spot and have been going there for years in the summer. There is nothing like fresh mountain air.
What does your spouse do to make you feel special?
We tag team on everything – raising three kids and working full-time can get crazy so we support each other and divide and conquer. Our family has always been a busy family (all three kids play sports so we are on the go all the time). We try to have date nights regularly and our favorite thing to do is to hang out together.
How do you manage work and family time?
We have always tried to balance it but not sure we always had the perfect formula. We involve our kids in our careers as much as we can. When we aren’t working, we are with our kids and supporting them in all their sports and hobbies. Thankfully, we both worked in the “greater good” space for the majority of our careers and had employers who respected family time.
Does your family have a motto? If so, what is it?
Be extraordinary. There is no time for mediocrity – if you are going to do something, you might as well strive to be your best. Our kids all play sports, so this motto served them well. We also say “I love you” to each other numerous times a day.
What are the core values of your family?
We have a strong faith in God. We have raised our kids in church, and we strive every day to be more like Jesus. Other values we uphold include being respectful of each other and showing each other grace when we fail. We’ve always told our kids to be kind and to stand for what is right and just. We hope we have modeled that for them.
Do you have any family traditions?
We always celebrate birthdays big. It’s become a tradition to celebrate lots of tournament wins (basketball and volleyball). We’ve been so grateful for all the successes our kids have been part of. When the Lady Mustangs made it to the Sweet 16 tournament this year, that meant that each of our kids have played in the Sweet 16 for basketball and that was special.
What brings you the greatest joy as a parent?
Seeing our children thrive. Anyone who is a parent just wants the best for their child and it brings us great joy to see them developing into good humans who will continue to contribute to society in a positive way. Our prayer has always been that they have confidence in their abilities and never underestimate how much they can positively impact other people.
Tell us something interesting about your family that we may not know.
All three kids were born on holidays or holiday weekends: Will was born on the 4th of July, Jackson was born a few days before Thanksgiving, and Caroline was born on Labor Day weekend.
Do you have nicknames for your kids?
Yes, we have tons… here are a few:
Will – Willie Wonka
Jackson – Tiny
Caroline – Sister and sweet Caroline
Questions for kids: What’s your favorite thing to do as a family?
Will – going to Cardinal games and vacation. We always have fun together traveling. During the beginning of COVID-19, when we were all back home, we took a family walk almost every day. We had some great conversations on those walks.
Jackson – I would say the same thing – we’ve taken a lot of great vacations. We all love to travel. We also love to go to sporting events. We are big Cardinal fans.
Caroline – we all like to travel together. When we go to Colorado, we hike almost every day. My Dad broke his toe on a hike one time – that was interesting. We have lots of memories from our trips together as a family.
