Sweeter's Tiger Tracks

Point to Ponder

I am including this blog because it is one that hits home, and it explains a personal dilemma that I have struggled with for years.  My wife, the spewer of warm and fuzzies, and I, the cold and prickly one, have been in many discussions where we debate the watering down of the awards system. 

For the past few seasons my daughter has been given a trophy for participating in soccer, and my son won a trophy or a medal in every wrestling tournament that he participated in last year.  Let me start by saying that this is an issue that I can truly see both sides of the debate.  On one hand my kids are excited, which any dad would love, and they are probably more likely to enjoy the activity.  This can be a tremendous program builder.  My son who WILL BE A BASKETBALL PLAYER thinks he is the next Randy Lewis or Lincoln Mcilravy. 

I always question whether or not we are teaching them anything.  If you receive a prize for doing, why go above and beyond?  If you'll get a trophy whether you simply play or if I win the state tournament.  Why spend all those hours in the gym? 

In my life I have been fortunate enough to have been on teams that won or placed high in major tournaments, and was awarded trophies for those accomplishments.  To this day I not only have them trophies, but I could give you play by play descriptions of each of those championship games.  Will Dylan or Ty remember anything about their trophies or will they even have their trophies in 5 years?  Are they going to want to work harder to be better at what they do? 

Another example of warm fuzzy excessiveness is when I was coaching 7th grade boys basketball, at South Middle School, in Rapid City.  First off everyone made the team, we had three teams.  When I was in JH I was cut from the 8th and 9th grade teams.  We had 50 kids trying out for one 12 member team, and I grew so fast I didn't know where my feet where.  I wanted to play so I worked at it.  Failure was not an option.  Enough reminiscing, sorry to get all up hill in the snow both ways on you.  To further add to the modern touchy feely insanity I had to make sure that all 15 boys on my team had at least one quarter of playing time, and trust me their were moms counting minutes.  I ended up worrying more about getting everyone in than what plays or offenses to call.  Once again I ask where is the motivation to get better?

Is it safe to fail or not get a trophy?  I hope so, because in the "Real World" there aren't warm fuzzies for participating.  Unless your a teacher where everyone gets paid the same regardless of how hard they work.

http://www.committedsardine.com/blogpost.cfm?blogID=658

Say what????

People are going too far.  I'll do my part to help out ole mother Earth, but this article is going too far.  Blaming my dog for global warming, really.  Comparing Fido to a gas guzzling SUV, come on.  I have heard enough to know that I have heard too much.  Where will the insanity stop?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091220/sc_afp/lifestyleclimatewarminganimalsfood

No No No

I once heard some stats in regards to the amount of $$$ lost and hours wasted do to employees who participated in fantasy football.  While I cannot remember the exact numbers you'll have to trust me when I say they were staggering.  I am attaching a link that shows how one company handled this issue.

http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Investment-company-to-fantasy-owners-You-re-fi?urn=fantasy,208825

You make the call.

Good News!!!

Last Friday we had an H1N1 clinic here at the school.  At that clinic Deb and Peggy gave 275 shots.  Wow, that is great news.  The CDC is reporting that one of the best ways to prevent an outbreak is to get vaccinated.  I would say our student body is doing their part.  I would also like to thank Deb and Peggy for their efforts, we truly appreciate all that they did to help our students and community. 

And if this were in Groton???

When I was a child watching Monday Night Football they used to have a segment titled "You make the Call."  As I have gotten older I have adapted this to many areas of my life.  As a principal you often read articles that discuss issues facing other principals. 

Today's example is a little sticky, so "You Make the Call."

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_34c2b558-e99f-11de-b114-001cc4c002e0.html

Interesting thought

Debate Booyaa

Not to be outshined by the success of our athletics, our debate team has been strutting their own stuff so far this season.

In the Lisa Sippel Novice Debate Tournament the team of Madison Cutler, Eric May, Drew Dohman, and Maycee Albrecht and the team of Michaela Oleson, Marah Smith, Taylor Leonhardt, and Eric Milbrandt tied for 2nd.

 

At the UDFL Conference Contest Spenser Kavanaugh placed 1st in B extemp and Michaela Oleson placed 3rd in B Extemp.  The team of Marah Smith, Taylor Leonhardt, Cheyenne Leonhardt, and Seth Duncan placed 3rd in B Debate.

 

And the're still not done.  Several debaters from the Groton Area Debate team shined at the Upper Dakota Forensic League conference meet December 11th and 12th in Milbank.  Conference schools include Aberdeen Central, Brookings, Deuel, Groton, Milbank, and Watertown.   Leading the team with a 1st place finish in B Extemporaneous speaking was Spenser Kavanaugh.  Michaela Oleson placed 3rd in B Extemporaneous speaking and the Polciy B team of Seth Duncan, Cheyenne Leonhardt, Taylor Leonhardt, and Marah Smith placed 3rd in their division.  

 

Ok I'll stop now, but I am sure these young students will keep excelling as their season continues.  Way to go!!!

Sports Domination

This was an incredible weekend for Groton Athletics.  I say that because our girl's and boy's basketball teams won all four games and our wrestlers won the Faulkton tournament.  Wow!!! 

Our girl's basketball teams rebounded Saturday after a disappointing lose on Tuesday.  Both the JV and varsity teams rolled to easy wins.  If this is any indication of how the rest of the season is going to go, I'd buckle in because it should be fun.

The varsity boy's game had to be the highlight of the evening.  I am not exaggerating by saying that this was one of the best basketball games I have watched in quite some time.  Both teams were quick and athletic, and played my favorite style of basketball, run and gun.    In fact if you turned your head for a minute you probably missed 3 possessions or your baby running into the action.  (I guess you had to be there.) 

Beings that I am an avid basketball fan, I must admit that after watching Saturday's contests I am a little revved up for this season.

Now that would be enough for any weekend of activities, but our athletes weren't done yet.  Our grapplers not only took 1st in Faulkton but with three 1st place finishes and three 3rd places you could safely say we dominated the field.  After some of the key loses this program faced this year, I thought we might be rebuilding, but apparently Mr. Hawkins just reloaded.

All of this and we are just a couple of weeks into the seasons.  It is going to be a fun winter around here.  At least if the weather stays cold the action in our gyms should be too hot for the hot tub.

Just Life

Today I read several articles out of this month's Principal Leadership magazine. Usually I don't have much use for the magazine because it is heavy on the urban/big city issues, which thankfully I don't have to deal with much of.  At least not to the scale that we need hardcore interventions.  However at least once a year they devote an entire issue to technology integration, and this topic is something that I have a deep rooted interest in.  While I am sure I will include more as time progress one article that I read had some interesting facts and a quote that I would like to share.

Did you know that the Internet has only been around since 1990 and email is 22 years old?  "It's hard to understand why the role of technology in education is still being debated.  John Palfrey, a Harvard University law professor and co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, summed it up perfectly in a quote for a 2009 Associated Press article: From the standpoint of young people, there's no real distinction between on-line life and offline life...It's just life. Although infusing education with technology requires a new paradigm for administrators and teachers, for students, technology in their lives is as commonplace and transparent as electricity.  Turn on all the lights for your students."

Our students don't know a world that isn't HD.  Schools need to catch up. 

H1N1 Clinic

Great news!!!  Groton Area is going to be offering a H1N1 Clinic here Friday, December 11th from 12:30 - 4:00.  The plan is to be in the JH/SH from 12:30 - 1:30, elementary from 2:00 - 3:00, and the general public from 3:00 - 4:00.  This is the plan, but please remember that we may not get all the vaccines we need.  Keep your fingers crossed!!  The great news is that the shots will be free!!

 

If you are interested there are forms that MUST be filled out in the office.