7.6 Million Reasons to Keep High School Sports By Bob Gardner

The following editorial was written by Bob Gardner, Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, in response to an article that was posted May 7 in the online edition of USA Today. It was released by the Kansas State High School Activities Association to share with the USD 331 community.

I’m not quite sure what qualifies a former college basketball coach to assess the state of high school sports, but last week in USA Today’s online edition, the following headline caught my attention: “Former college coach proposes ending high school sports.” Wow!

            This article, which originally was published in the Reno (Nevada) Gazette-Journal, contained thoughts and ideas of Len Stevens, a former college basketball coach and current executive director of the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Stevens suggests we should “kick it (high school sports) to the curb” and go the way of the European model focusing solely on club sports.

            The author of the article, Dan Hinxman, suggests that Mr. Stevens’ thoughts might be preposterous, ludicrous and, perhaps, downright offensive to some individuals. Mr. Hinxman is correct. As the head of an organization that provides leadership to 51 state high school associations, 19,000 high schools and more than 7.6 million student-athletes involved in high school sports, I am pleased to report that funeral arrangements have been cancelled.

            What Mr. Stevens probably doesn’t know is that many of those countries employing the “European model” would trade their model in an instant for the education-based philosophy of high school sports in the United States. After listening to my report at the 9^th International Session for Educators at the International Olympic Academy in Greece last summer, representatives from many nations marveled that our programs receive little or no government support in our schools, and the universal wish of the delegates from other nations was that their programs could be more like ours.

            Mr. Stevens suggests that since club sports have been growing in the United States we should end high school sports and go exclusively with club sports, which “would answer a lot of problems and put the high school focus back where it belongs – on education.”

            What Mr. Stevens doesn’t account for is that if sports were removed from American high schools, the focus would not be on education. The focus would be on trying to locate students who abruptly left school – dropouts – when sports were taken away.

And, by the way, the education component is the singular unique component of the U.S. model. Student-athletes learn much more than how to set a screen in basketball or cover the first-base bag in baseball. While the number of teacher-coaches has dwindled, most schools that employ out-of-school coaches require those individuals to complete an education course, such as the NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching course.

On the other hand, club sports lack an educational component. These programs exist solely for the purpose of improving one’s athletic skills and, through that process, hopefully landing a college scholarship. The team concept rarely exists and there is no overall philosophy to help prepare students for life after school, which is a major goal of education-based sports within the schools.

Mr. Stevens also noted that no one attends games any more. Really? A survey conducted by the NFHS last year indicated that more than 510 million people attended high school sporting events during the 2009-10 school year. On Friday nights in the fall, there are 7,000 high school games being played every week. On winter nights – two to three times a week – there are about 18,000 girls and boys basketball games being played. More than 7.6 million high school students compete in high school sports, and those numbers have risen for 22 consecutive years.

How many of those 7.6 million kids would still be around if the only option was to join a club team? The clubs only want the very best athletes, and fees can range from $5,000 to $10,000 a year to be involved with a year-round travel team.

A large majority of high school students who are involved in sports are there to have fun, to be with their friends, to compete and learn and to be a part of a team. Kids have a need to be needed and to be a part of something positive, to be involved with their peers and coaches who care. Many students involved in sports do not have a support system at home – their high school teammates and coaches are their lifeblood. This concept simply does not exist through club sports.

At our recent National Athletic Directors Conference in Indianapolis, several high school athletic directors talked about their days as high school athletes and the importance of these programs.

Monica Maxwell, a middle school athletic director from Indianapolis, said, “I knew I wanted to get out of my neighborhood. If it wasn’t going to be through athletics, it was going to be through the military . . . I think that story – my story – is a story of many athletes. They know that their ticket out of their neighborhoods is going to be athletics.”

Lanness Robinson, an athletic director from Tampa, Florida, said, “If I didn’t maintain a 3.5 grade-point average, my mom wouldn’t let me play sports. That’s the only reason I tried because otherwise I didn’t care. I believe that athletics is the greatest dropout prevention program that we have . . . I think the three most identifiable people on the school campus . . . are the head football coach, the principal and the quarterback. What does that say about school? I’ve read stories where schools have actually made the decision to cut programs and I think in most cases, they reinstate athletic programs because they found that it doesn’t work.”

John Evers, a retired athletic director from Indiana, said “When good things happen – if a team is making a great playoff run – the community comes together. That’s not something you often get outside of athletics. I’ve never seen a town rally around a chemistry class, but I have seen them rally around a team of kids doing something special.”

Becky Oakes, director of sports at the NFHS, said in a recent issue of High School Today, “Students enjoy the school-community identity that comes with playing in high school. In general, high school coaches will treat each student as part of the team and the community; this is the selling point that high schools have far over any club team.”

Certainly, there are challenges in many states, mainly due to funding issues. But even in those situations when funds become tight, more often than not the community responds because it sees the value of these programs for young people. With all due respect to Mr. Stevens, there are 7.6 million reasons we’re going to keep sports within our schools.

A Safe Finish and New Start

     It’s hard to believe that another school year is almost complete, but in less than a month, high school graduations and 8^th grade promotions will occur. What a year it has been. I congratulate all of the students on their efforts to succeed and to the staff for providing their caring instruction. As each of our students finish their last month of school this year, I encourage them to work hard and strive to do their very best in preparation for a new start next school year and remind everyone to stay safe and continue their learning throughout the summer.

     What have we accomplished this year? We began new career pathways in the high schools with several introductory courses that could be taken in the 8^th grade. The career and technical education teachers met with community committees, updated their academic plans and looked at new career pathways that could be added for the next school year. We implemented a complete new English-Language Arts series (the first in many years) for our elementary students which complements our elementary math series (in its second year of implementation), but also updated the math series to focus on the new common core standards. A district curriculum team met monthly to develop and align the curriculum for all grades K-12 and will continue next year with development of the common core standards transition plan. We began development of the Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to help our struggling readers or math students. Each building has a team who analyzed data to determine which students could benefit from tiered instruction and full implementation should occur next year.

     We worked closely last year with Kingman County Emergency Management, Kansas Homeland Security, Kansas Safe and Prepared Schools, and the emergency responders to evaluate the schools’ vulnerabilities and to improve their safety and security. This school year, each teacher has a classroom crisis kit, entrances are limited with access controlled by the office, and soon we will have enhanced and expanded video inside and outside each school. Mr. Jerry Tenbrink (Director of Kansas School Resource Officers’ Program of the Attorney General’s Office) stated that parents want to know their kids will be safe and in some portions of the state, they pick their schools based upon safety and security of the schools. Each staff member has an identification badge and all teacher badges also serve as an electronic access to the building. Emergency Operations Plans along with training have been updated in each building and a comprehensive district plan is near completion.

     Students, too, have made great strides. Kingman High School student council along with Norwich High School Students against Destructive Decisions (SADD) co-sponsored two activities where a national speaker and local celebrities and local law enforcement all spoke and celebrated in improving the school and community climate. The elementary and middle schools were involved separately where Kingman Elementary piloted the Steps to Respect program and will be honored in Topeka in early May. The Steps to Respect program was expanded to Kingman Middle School and Norwich Elementary and Middle schools. Additionally, a Kingman High School Alum, David Hill, worked with Kingman Middle School to begin the “One Spark” program which essentially is a program to start a “spark” of kindness rather than douse others with a bucket of water, thus drowning their hopes and dreams. Kingman Middle School has done several community projects including visits to the local nursing home and clean-up projects as a result. Do you believe these great programs expand? Kingman High School now is the only high school who is beginning their own chapter of “One Spark” and KHS has revived their SADD program.

     Both Norwich High School and Kingman High School have applied for a grant with the Kansas State Department of Education called the S-3 grant. S-3 is designed to look at all types of safety and security with a particular focus on school climate. If this grant is received, additional focus will be given to improving the climate at each high school ultimately to help each student succeed in a positive school climate.

Finally, our collaboration with local law enforcement will allow us to expand our safety and security even further. They will continue to use the schools for training so they can respond quickly and appropriately in case of an emergency. We will be updating all radios for improved communication along with video access on an emergency basis. The police are in the process of obtaining a dog that can renew searches in the schools for drugs and the sheriff recently provided me a public website to assist parents and teachers in identifying signs of illicit drug use.

     I believe the school district has made great strides in academics and curriculum, school climate, safety, security, and emergency preparedness. We continue to work to improve our seamless integration of technology into our instruction, added blogs, Facebook, and enhanced phone messaging system to improve communication, and develop 21^st century skills our student must have to compete. The district is committed to continual improvement in all facets of educating our students and appreciates the support you have given our students, teachers, and staff through the journey.  The journey continues.

Whatever Happened after the Kansas Learning Network Visit?

Numerous areas were identified for improvement following the Kansas Learning Network visit during the fall of 2010. Areas of particular focus were those of curriculum and instruction. What has the district staff been doing to make those improvements?

1)      All school buildings developed a team to plan for implementation of MTSS (Multi-tiered system of support). All Kingman schools identified reading as the area which needed focus and Norwich schools determined their focus would be on math. Using data obtained from various tests, students would be identified for further assistance to correct deficiencies. With new instructional tools available and data from testing, students deficiencies can be identified and significant improvements can be made. Though each building is at various levels of MTSS implementation, significant student improvement is already occurring.

2)      Administrators often stopped in various classrooms while walking around their buildings, but this school year, they do so with a specific purpose in most cases. District administrators worked with educational consultants to develop and become trained on the 5 minute observation. This gets administrators in the classrooms much more and in most cases, they make observations which they share with teachers almost immediately after completing the observation. This has led to numerous conversations and reflection on instruction and learning and since all of the data is recorded, areas of professional development are identified. For instance, a transition to the common core standards requires higher order thinking skills be developed. Data obtained from the observations led to professional learning during an in-service day to assist teachers in developing that type of instruction.

3)      Several teachers and administrators attended a week long KLN Curriculum Institute in Pittsburg, KS this past summer. With the work those educators began, a district curriculum leadership team was formed to redesign the math and English – Language Arts curriculum for the district that addressed current standards, identified resources including technology, and set the pace for what should be covered throughout the school year. Since Kansas, along with almost every other state, adopted the common core standards, their work is now continuing with making appropriate changes toward the common core standards. The work these dedicated professionals of our district have completed is phenomenal and they will lead the in-service for all instructional staff in April.

The above describes a few of the improvements currently being worked on in the district. I am extremely proud of the dedication and work of everyone involved and I hope all patrons are as well. 

Good and Bad of Sports Article

The KSHSAA (the governing body of Kansas middle and high school activities), recently posted a great article about sportsmanship and I provided the link. As stated, it's a great reminder to all of us about our responsibilities as coaches, administrators, officials, and parents. As we finish up the winter sports season and begin the spring seasons, take a moment to read the article. It's based upon years of research and I believe the author makes some great points. I hope you enjoy it.

March 2, 2012 From Kansas State High School Activities Association

Click HERE to check out a wonderful article on the good and bad of sports parents.  It is a great reminder for all of us on what our role should be as parents, administrators, teachers, and coaches of our student-athletes.  As you will read, the article is based on the research and analysis of Bruce E. Brown and Rob Miller of Proactive Coaching LLC.  Both of these gentlemen have recently spoken at the KSHSAA Coaching School and were well received by all who attended.  Hopefully you will find this article useful as you continuously work to promote and develop top notch athletics and activities programs in your school communities.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder and Beyond

Into the Wild Blue Yonder and Beyond

by

Bob Diepenbrock

Within the last few weeks, I’ve been contacted about USD 331 graduates who are excelling in their professions.  Mr. Ron Work, Physics teacher, contacted me about an alum of Norwich, Ashley Balzer, who is currently working for NASA in the office of education and works with the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. Mr. Work and Mr. Curtis Albin, co-physics teacher at Kingman, are working collaboratively to teach physics by connecting classrooms in both high schools via interactive television and are planning to set up experiments with Ashley using the interactive television.  

I was also contacted about a graduate of Kingman High School who is a pilot for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are scheduled to perform in an air show at McConnell Air Force base in Wichita the last weekend of September. We hope to make a connection to Captain Blaine Jones (KHS alum) when he comes into the area this upcoming fall as well. You can read about Captain Jones at the Thunderbirds website at http://afthunderbirds.com/site/members/Officers/ .

Congratulations to all of our alumni for their great contributions. We hope to connect to other alumni in the near future. 

How We Communicate - Can We Get Better

How We Communicate – Can We Get Better?

by

Bob Diepenbrock, Superintendent of Schools

A failure in communication is always an issue school districts face with their parents and patrons. Therefore, I would like to explain the different ways we try to communicate events and other important news and ask for suggestions if you have other ideas. As a school and district, we are always looking for efficient and timely methods to improve communication.

First of all, Kingman Elementary and Middle Schools along with Norwich PK-12 sends a monthly newsletter to all the parents of students in their respective attendance centers. The newsletter highlights past events and activities along with informing parents of upcoming events in the school. The newsletter also provides information about the in-service days, food service, and how to find out about school closings in case of inclement weather or other necessary closing. Kingman High School does not send out a newsletter, but has a journalism class that produces the Oracle to highlight events and run news stories of interest as determined by the teacher and students. Norwich also produces a newspaper at the middle school level.

Students at middle and high schools work in their web design classes to post pictures and write regular blogs that are posted on the school and district website. If you haven’t visited the website lately, you should definitely take a look. The websites are regularly updated with blogs written by students and teachers and most are posted on the district Facebook site as well. You can view the district website at www.knusd331.com or the Facebook website at USD 331 Kingman-Norwich Schools and I hope you indicate you “like” us. From either site you can also access each school’s site. I also plan to begin the superintendent’s blog and post updates on district events and issues in education that affect the schools.

 You may have received updates or reminders through our Bright Arrow Notification system as well. Using Bright Arrow, we can send out messages to all parents or to any number of people based upon the groups we set up. For instance, if an event necessitated the closing of all district schools, I can send out an emergency message notifying all the phone numbers and emails we have on file at our schools within a few minutes. We can also select groups such as the elementary parents only, a middle or high school athletic or activity team or others and send messages only to those groups. To work effectively, please make sure your contact information is updated with the school your child attends. Bright Arrow is even capable of sending text messages.

The above described a few ways we are trying to communicate with you. If you have additional ideas or ideas on something you would like our schools to highlight, please don’t hesitate to contact our schools. We will continue to strive to improve our communication to you. Thanks.