Norris School District

[November, 2004]

Academic Achievement & Activities Involvement: A Winning Team

When was the last time you were amazed or inspired by an individual or team performance in a sport or select activity?  Chances are pretty good that if you’re a Norris fan, you can think of a multitude of examples this fall season has brought us.  Here are a few general ones that come to mind for me:

            *The marching band: Under the expert guidance of Evan Lee and Becky Wilhelm, the marching band placed second in the field competition and grabbed third place in the parade competition at Clarinda, Iowa.  The Clarinda contest required a five-plus hour bus ride (and no, they didn’t lease luxury line coaches, folks).  The marching band scored marks from the judges that were fifteen points higher than last year’s performance.  Their exciting evocation of The Who’s “Tommy” is a cutting-edge rendition with tricky marching routines in addition to favorite classics like “Pinball Wizard.”  

            *The theater group: These students put on a performance of Give My Regards to Broadway that brought the house down.  “What house?” you ask, knowing we have no auditorium.  Well, that’s just it: Under the guidance of vocal music director Wes Hansmeyer, acting director Nicole Boon, and tech director Kelly Millington, the students practiced at Shepherd of the Hills church before moving their entire production in one week to the University of Nebraska’s Kimball Hall for two grand performances.  One week! Just a week to figure out the complexities of blocking, staging, lighting and a set in order to put on those excellent shows. 

            *The football team: What a wonderful and exciting team Coach Reid’s crew has proven to be.  For fans of the comeback, last-minute pullouts, and playing through the pain, his team has shown how to deal with adversity with class and distinction, as the Lincoln Journal Star feature described a few weeks back.  In defeat, their will to win next time out has never wavered from an absolute commitment.  Their powerhouse victory over Seward was all the evidence needed of this.  In victory, they have paused to celebrate and then forged onward immediately to prepare for their next opponent.  In defeat, they have never lost the will to win and have persistently sought opportunities to claw back into contention.  Let’s not forget that this is a football team that until just a few weeks ago had no locker room access and was still storing its gear in con-ex storage trailers!

            *The volleyball team: Wow.  As I write this, we’re ranked third in the state and have defeated some stiff competition from throughout the EMC.  Our girls have been graciously hosted throughout the season by Southeast High School.  But let’s pause and consider this for a moment: consider the additional drive time, the commutes, the practices and the games all occurring at the home of the Southeast Knights.  Under most circumstances, with a lesser group of players, one would predict marginal team performances.  Has this group exceeded reasonable expectations?  You bet.  Under Coach Christina Boesiger, they have demonstrated a fiery competitive spirit that has never waned, despite the challenges of having no home gymnasium as ours is still under construction (due to reach completion the final week of October). 

            *The cross country team: This group of runners has motored their way to top-five finishes in invitationals and conquered the competition in numerous duals.  The boys took runner-up in the conference meet and the girls brought home the bronze.  With Coach John “You better run like Prefontaine if you wanna run for me” Votta, the cross country team has individuals who have simply devoured the competition and torn up courses with terrain that would make most of us weep if we were to try to run it!  How is it the team is more competitive than just a year ago?  Maybe it has to do with out-running all that heavy construction equipment that still crawls over the surface of the Norris cross country course!

            *The softball team: Coach Hardin has a group of girls who have posted victories against arduous opponents and never lost their will to win even when they were down going into the final inning.  Seeing some of these girls battle off pitch after pitch from all-staters to stay in contention has been awesome.  Overcoming injuries and playing through difficult circumstances, the team has shown exceptional class and commitment---to one another and to winning.  They played all their home games for the first part of the season in Princeton as there was no home field: it was still being restored following the destructive forces of the tornado.  In the latter part of this season, now playing their games on the Norris campus, they have upped their competitive edge and made it into the second round of the conference tournament.

There are more examples, of course!  Quiz Bowl beating back the competition, bringing home the hardware from the Bluejay Invitational at Creighton.   FFA and Skills USA.  Student Council’s exceptional volunteerism to help the campus.  If you have a Norris activities admission card and have been to many or any of the events featuring the above, then you’ll have your own personal highlights reel, no doubt.  The dedication of these teams and all the other fall activities at Norris has been a source of genuine inspiration for us.

            In considering the above, one of the most important things we can learn is that through these structured extracurricular activities, we sustain a school culture and create an atmosphere that is best for kids.  The glue that holds it together, though, is the classroom instruction delivered by our excellent faculty.  The content area connections and the relationships teachers establish and sustain with students help those same students get excited about investing back in the school through structured activities and being excellent ambassadors for the Titans in all our activities endeavors. 

As a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences noted, students enjoy working together.  The N.A. S. also tells us that engagement in the learning process in school can be enhanced by engaging students in activities that require sharing and meaningful interactions.  At Norris you see this in the classroom and beyond.  I submit that one of the fundamental components in Norris’ historic and continuing excellence in academic achievement is the activities excellence described above.  For the research also tells us that students like those involved in the activities above and the multitude of other activities at Norris not mentioned in the preceding paragraphs,  academic achievement is also enhanced through activities involvement.  We should all celebrate the success of our fall activities.  For what it tells us is that the school culture of excellence at Norris is alive and well despite our recent hardships.