The woman who possibly will be the Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins' new basketball coach has logged time in the Coastal Bend before.

Stephanie Foerster, head girls' basketball coach at Corrigan-Camden High School in East Texas, grew up in Corpus Christi. She said she liked Port Aransas when she visited.

"I didn't go to the beaches much when I was in Corpus, but as soon as I (moved away), I really missed that atmosphere," Foerster said. "I'd be glad to get back to the area."

Foerster has been offered the Lady Marlins coaching job, and she has accepted, according to Travis Longanecker, principal of PAHS. Her hiring is contingent on approval by the Port Aransas Independent School District Board of Trustees. Trustees will consider the matter when they meet today - Thursday, May 15. She still must sign a contract too.

Foerster graduated from Bishop High School in 1998; earned a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2001; and got a Master's Degree in educational administration in 2003 from TAMU-CC.

She taught and coached at Flour Bluff Junior High School for three years, then served as coach of JV girls basketball and other sports at Brewer High School in Fort Worth before moving on to Corrigan-Camden High School in Corrigan, about 30 miles south of Lufkin.

In addition to coaching varsity girls' basketball, Foerster, 27, serves as girls' athletic coordinator at CCHS and at Corrigan-Camden Junior High School. She also teaches algebra and pre-calculus at CCHS.

CCHS is a 2-A school. The varsity girls' basketball team, an exceptionally young group, didn't make the play-offs this past year.

"We had eight freshmen, and we started four," Foerster said. "We struggled, but the kids got better and better, and they competed."

Foerster said she is eager to lead the Lady Marlins.

"I think Coach Henderson has done a tremendous job with the program," she said. "He is leaving it in such a good condition. I'm real excited about it."

Foerster was selected from among several candidates by a PAHS hiring committee made up of school employees, Longanecker said, adding that Foerster 's references were "impeccable."

While Foerster 's role as basketball coach might bethe highest-profile part of her job, she will have important duties in the classroom too if she is hired, Longanecker said.

Plans are for Foerster to supervise two groups of PAHS students: Those in District Alternative Education Placement (DAEP) and those in a NovaNET classroom.

DAEP, which typically involves a handful of students at PAHS, is for students who have been put in a classroom separate from other students for days at a time due to disciplinary problems.

NovaNET is computer software that allows students to accomplish a wide variety of tasks while working at a computer at their own pace and being supervised by a teacher. Some students might use it because they are in danger of dropping out of school, falling at least a year behind from failing courses.

NovaNET also can be used by students practicing for ACT and SAT college entrance tests. The software also can be used to get prepared for the state-mandated tests known as TAKS - the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

Longanecker said officials are considering some remodeling that would keep the DAEP and NovaNET students separate but would put a teacher -- Foerster, if she is hired -- in an office with views of both classrooms and quick access to both.