A "nationally recognized locale for competitive high school sports"
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Anonymous
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What I find obscene about this is that there is not a similar initiative to make DC a "nationally recognized locale" for academic achievement, measured by the number of National Merit Scholars, or finalists in academic competitions, or admissions to elite universities for example. The strong message from DCPS front office is that focusing on those types of things would not be "equitable" and those types of accomplishments are things that families can celebrate quietly. But, instead let's celebrate kids who are selected for professional sports teams, because that is what the world really needs right now is more professional athletes.
To the poster complaining about the imbalance between schools, with Deal baseball as an example, I agree but it is just another example about how DC needs to invest in the quality of its schools across the city and stop expecting Deal and JR to absorb everyone. Of course Deal has more talent (in sports and academics) because it has a much larger student body to pull from. Perhaps if schools outside the Deal catchment were stronger, its 25% OOB population could go to their local schools instead, and level the playing field in many ways. More broadly, however, most states handle this situation by having schools in various Divisions according to size. DC is too small to do that so unless Maryland, for example, invites us into their athletic conference, we're sort of stuck. |
Anonymous
You’re the only person saying anything like the offensive sentiments that you are attributing to others. You seem not so bright. |
Anonymous
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I think the idea behind this is a great one. School sports are so important--kids build life long skills needed for an active lifestyle, or course (as an adult, it's easier to find a athletic activity to do if you can just meet a friend for tennis or join adult league without embarrassing yourself!) But in sports, kids learn grit, teamwork, sportsmanship, how to channel your emotions when the ref is unfair, etc. Competitive student athletes must master organization and time management. And, in my personal experience, being a competitive athlete was what motivated me to steer (mostly) clear of drugs and drinking in high school and other activities that would get my in trouble/keep me from starting. For example, on most HS teams, if you skip school you don't start--but that only matters if you care about playing. And even if sports just aren't your thing, having a good sports program builds school spirit (of course, one hopes it is not the only focus of the school).
You can quibble with the amount of money being funneled to consultants in this project (always an issue with this admin), but, BUT, I do not see how the push to improve sports in DC schools is anything but a net positive. |
Anonymous
Is there an equivalent effort aimed at access/participation in other extracurriculars such as the arts, robotics, debate/oratory? |
Anonymous
It would be greatvif the aim were to broadly improve sports across DC schools. But it’s not. It’s focused on high schools. And it’s focused on creating attention-getting stars. |
Anonymous
This. |
Anonymous
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Audio of the first meeting is here:
https://dme.dc.gov/page/dc-sports-review-study |
Anonymous
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How about helping School without Walls find some sports facilities to use. So dumb to make a school with no field access.
How about getting the Wilson swim team priority at the so-called Wilson pool? DPR leases it out to private schools such as Maret for swim practice and Wilson is last in line. |
Anonymous
And the consultant they hired has spent most/all of his career working at independent (private) schools in DC. This whole effort just does not pass the sniff test. https://www.windsorathleticsconsulting.com/about.html |
Anonymous
Their finding are idiotic. Lots of focus on baseball as a high school sport. The notion that DCPS kids — who don’t grow up playing baseball outside of upper NW and don’t play travel —- will be national standouts is laughable. If anything, high school sports would be dramatically improved by more indoor basketball courts. DCPS elementary kids play games in their lunchroom at some schools. For high school kids, the struggle for gym space is unbelievable. |
Anonymous
Really? Did they explain why/how they handled their relationship with NPS so badly regarding the baseball field at JR? |
Anonymous
The premise was idiotic so it's not surprising the findings were idiotic. They're really not doing the vast majority of kids any favors by leading them to believe that professional athletics is a viable career path. They may as well have classes in picking lottery numbers. Sports are great for kids, but they should be focusing on creating more opportunities for participation. |
Anonymous
I watched the video, and what struck me was that the emphasis was much more on adults than kids -- increasing salaries, creating more positions, making part-time positions full-time. There was never any evidence presented that there are vast numbers of DC kids who are on the cusp of turning pro, the only thing holding them back is that the AD at their school is part-time and their coach is underpaid. It seems that in fact the opposite is true, if kids have talent the opportunities find them. |
Anonymous
+1. Use the money and energy into creating more sports programming at the schools, especially those EOTP where some schools have none. |
Anonymous
The key goal is off: They want to keep top athletes in the city. But are concerned about keeping top students? |