News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A two-week spring break may be nice for some families and kids in Sisters, but it's tough on the track program at Sisters High School.
Track coach Bob Johnson took issue with the long break before the Sisters School Board on Monday, April 1.
According to Johnson, it is hard to keep his athletes in condition and it's even harder for them to keep their edge in some of the technical events when they have a long lay-off.
During the voluntary spring break practices, only an average of 20 kids out of a 70-student program turned out. Some were away on other school trips; some were on family vacations.
Johnson doesn't begrudge them time with family or in other activities.
"I tell them, family is number-one," Johnson said. "Family is number-one, grades are number-two and track is number three."
However, Johnson does recognize that a long layoff makes it hard for athletes to perform at their best. That situation could be worse next year, when the two-week spring break falls only a month before district finals.
That could put Johnson in the position of forcing kids to make painful choices.
"My concern is that... I'm going to have to make one week mandatory," Johnson said.
Johnson said that other districts have seen ugly results from making practices mandatory. Many students can't make practices and thus have to quit the team.
"Right now, we have a home for a lot of kids that wouldn't be very good in other sports," Johnson said. "I sure don't want to see those numbers go down."
Johnson's assistant coach, Jim Anderson -- a former teacher -- questioned whether the long break is good for students in other ways.
"It's hard for me to think of an educational advantage for two weeks," he said.
Johnson repeatedly asked whether the calendar for next year is "concrete," and he did not receive a definitive answer. The calendar for next school year has been adopted.
The scheduled breaks are designed, in part, to keep trimester terms at the same length to allow enough teaching time each term.
School superintendent Steve Swisher indicated that the current calendar could be modified by board action, but the board gave no indication that it would consider doing so.
Board chair Heather Wester noted that the board had heard from Johnson and the parents of track team members, but not from other groups.
"To say that we're going to change it next year, just for you, for the track team, to me doesn't make much sense," Wester said.
Swisher told Johnson that the "skeleton" calendar for the following year is still open to change.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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