11 minute read
Elmore Education Matters
Fall is here, cooler weather has finally arrived, and we are over halfway through the first semester of the 20212022 school year. We have had a very busy fall in Elmore County with sporting events, homecoming festivities, and other extracurricular activities in which to get involved.
With Thanksgiving approaching, I have many reasons to be thankful for the Elmore County Public School System. First, I am thankful for the parents who send us their children daily, trusting that we will not only teach them, but care for and nurture them while they are with us. I am thankful for parents who continue to seek ways to participate in their child(ren)’s school activities in spite of reduced volunteer opportunities. I am thankful for parents who support their children during times of virtual attendance. I am thankful for parents who offer a word of encouragement to a teacher or other school staff member or send additional supplies to a classroom during the school year. I am truly thankful for parents who communicate their high expectations and the value of education to their children.
Second, I am so thankful for our students! We have a diverse population of over 11,700 students with 33 languages spoken by our English learners. Our students participate in a wide variety of sports and other extracurricular activities that help them grow personally and equip them with skills to be better students and future workers. I firmly believe in the value of these activities, and I appreciate the time and effort our staff members devote to working with students outside the regular school day. Our 2021 graduates earned a combined total of $13.8 million in scholarships which is evidence of their personal determination and commitment to achieving their academic goals.
Third, I am thankful for the community spirit that is evident in all our attendance areas. The support of local businesses, churches, and other organizations is a tremendous benefit to our schools.
Finally, I am thankful for our employees. Every employee plays an important role in fulfilling our purpose: Every Student Empowered – Every Student Succeeds. Every single employee contributes in some way to ensuring that we educate our children to the best of our ability in a clean, safe environment with sufficient resources. As the largest employer in Elmore County, I am thankful for the talented, dedicated, resourceful employees who do what they do for our students.
Thanksgiving is a time to express gratitude for those things for which we are thankful, and I am thankful for everyone in the Elmore County School System. Happy Thanksgiving!
Richard Dennis is the Superintendent of Education for Elmore County Schools. He is a 1983 graduate of Holtville High School. He served 21 years as a high school principal at Holtville High, Wetumpka High and most recently, Prattville High. He and wife, Leslie (also an educator) have three sons and a daughter.
Wetumpka High Names Teacher and Support Staff of the Year
Congratulations to Wetumpka High School Teacher of the Year, Jeff Glass, shown above with Principal Dr. Robbie Slater, and WHS Support of the Year, Holley Marterella Turner, shown below with Slater.
ECTC Names September Student of the Month
Bradley McDade from Wetumpka High School was recently awarded the Elmore County Technical Center September Student of the Month. He is pictured with his Computer Technology teacher, Ken Spivey, and Career Tech Education Director, Emilie Johnson.
Elmore County Schools
Tallassee Marching Band Scores Superior Ratings
The Pride of Tallassee marching band attended two competitions recently. At the Camellia Marching Band Festival held at Marbury High School on September 25, the THS band scored Superior ratings for drum major, color guard, majorette, percussion and band. One week later on October 2, the band scored Superior ratings for drum major, color guard, majorette, and band at the Lake Martin Invitational Band Competition held in Alexander City.
The band’s field show this year is about dreams, featuring music from The Greatest Showman and songs by Aerosmith, the Eurythmics, Beyonce and Taylor Swift.
Tallassee’s band is under the direction of Dr. Robby Glasscock and Melanie Skeen. Drum major is Bradyn Slaughter. Head majorette is Sarah Jane Patterson. Color Guard captains are Georgia Anne Butler and Emma Humphries. The band captain is Cole Ingram, and chaplain is Danielle Bird. Featured soloists this year are Danielle Bird, Lacey Carter, and Kinsley Glasscock. Majorettes are instructed by Vicki Baker. Auxiliaries coordinator is Jennifer Crain. The percussion instructor is Jordan Wallace, and the music was arranged by Mike Hammonds. Photo courtesy of Trista Armstrong.
Wetumpka Art Students Assist with Christmas on the Coosa
Thank you Wetumpka High art students, for your artistic abilities along with City of Wetumpka Public Works, for our new additions to this year’s Christmas on the Coosa night parade!
HOSA Vice President Visits ECTC
The Elmore County Technical Center Medical Sciences students and HOSA chapter members welcomed Ty Franklin, Alabama HOSA’s vice president of chapter relations, and his advisor, Shannon Tolbert, to speak to their classes in September. They drove all the way from Piedmont High School to share much-needed information with ECTC students about the HOSA Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) and competitions.
Colquitt Named ECTC Teacher of the Year
The 2021-2022 Elmore County Technical Center Teacher of the Year is Amy Colquitt, who has been part of the ECTC family for five years. She served as the ECTC school nurse prior to joining our teaching faculty where she instructs first-year Medical Sciences students in foundational courses.
Elmore County Receives Wind Creek Donation
The Elmore County Technical Center is thrilled to be the recipient of Making A Change donations from August at Wind Creek Wetumpka Casino & Hotel with a total check of $22,105.45! These funds allow the ECTC campus to make needed purchases as we continue to grow in student enrollment, add programs, build new facilities, and remodel our existing classrooms and labs. We appreciate Wind Creek Hospitality’s continued support of career and technical education in Elmore County.
STEM in Elmore County
Middle school media specialists across the county are getting our students excited about STEM by implementing lessons in their libraries. This month students at Eclectic Middle used the Engineering Design process to help Harry! They created a “perch” for Harry so he has a place to hang out in their library.
ARTFUL WELLNESS
YOGA
This November and December, take time to release the stress of the season and feel revived with an hour of Artful Wellness at the MMFA. Led by Breezeville Yoga, this class offers wellness for your mind and body, in a unique environment enhanced by art and natural beauty. Learn more and register at mmfa.org.
Blount Cultural Park
One Museum Drive Montgomery, AL 36117
Open Tuesday–Sunday Free Entry + Parking
mmfa.org | @MontgomeryMFA
While sports can provide a multitude of emotional and physical benefits for kids, specializing in a single sport at too early of an age can pose risks. How do you know when—or if— your child should specialize in a sport they love?
Brian Harvey, O.D., a pediatric sports medicine physician, says that sports specialization is defined as playing and competing in one single sport exclusively for more than eight months out of the year.
Advantages of multi-sport
athletes. Some parents worry that their children won’t have a competitive advantage later on if they don’t specialize early.
Karen Hughey, co-founder and CEO of Team Cura, works with scholarshipseeking athletes and their parents. As a former sports parent, Hughey says both her children played a variety of sports. She and her husband left it up to their children to decide which ones they wanted to pursue as they got older.
Although he was a talented golfer, her son Rob, co-founder of Team Cura, opted to quit golf early in his high school career to participate in other activities. But, by his junior year, he decided that he wanted to return to golf and play at the college level.
From discussions with many high school and college coaches, Hughey has found that they tend to prefer recruiting multi-sport athletes.
“I think football is probably the best example of not specializing,” Harvey says. “Ninety percent of the first-round draft picks are multi-sports athletes. They’re running track, playing basketball, wrestling. It certainly doesn’t hinder their ability to play professionally or get those college scholarships.”
Prevent injury.
“We see that kids, who have had experiences playing a multitude of sports, have fewer difficulties learning new skills and, generally, don’t suffer from the overuse injuries and burnout that are common with youth athletes specializing in one sport,” says physical therapist Tim Cummings, PT, DPT.
An overuse injury occurs as a result of repetitive motion and impact on one area of the body.
Cummings says the most common overuse injuries he sees in younger patients include ankle sprains, knee pain, Little Leaguer’s Elbow, ACL tears and Osgood-Schlatter.
“Osgood-Schlatter is a traction injury on a special type of growth plate called an apophysis, which is at the top of the shin bone,” Cummings explains. “The traction comes from strong and relatively tight muscles that develop during puberty and high activity levels. Pain and sometimes swelling can be felt directly over a bump at the bottom of the knee.”
Avoid burnout. Participating in different sports throughout the year is easier on developing bodies and kids are less likely to get bored or even anxious or depressed.
“Athletes wanting to perform at their best, but not being able to, whether it’s due to injury or their fear of disappointing a coach or a parent or even themselves, plus that chronic daily physical demand, can lead to higher rates of burnout and quitting their sport,” Harvey says.
To allow the body time to rest and recover, kids shouldn’t train for more than eight months out of the year.
“And really try not to practice, train or compete more than their age in years per week,” Harvey says. (For example, no more than 12 hours per week for a 12-year-old.)
Striking a healthy balance between sports and other interests is also beneficial.
“Some of the high school athletes we work with have stressed the importance
Sunday, December 12
TWO PERFORMANCES! 3 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Encourage free play. Whether
they toss a football around with friends, shoot hoops in the driveway, play tag, or make up competitive games, kids develop motor skills, creativity and social/emotional skills through unstructured play.
“When we start to look at young athletes, the body really needs time to develop, to learn how to run, learn how to jump—really learn how to use their bodies and play,” Harvey says. “Instead of focusing on one exact sport, try a little bit of different types of sports. Learn how to be athletic first and foremost, and then really have fun with those sports.”
When to specialize. “This isn’t
a black and white, good or bad issue. Sports like figure skating, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and diving require early specialization due to the high demand to acquire specific sports skills early on,” Cummings says. “Peak performance in these sports most often happens before reaching full physical maturity.”
But, he emphasizes that early specialization combined with decreased recovery time does put an athlete at increased risk for overuse injuries no matter the sport chosen.
Harvey recommends parents gauge specialization readiness according to a child’s physical and mental maturity. Although he’d prefer kids waited until they were at least 12 (ideally 14 or 15), “there’s probably not a specific age that I would say is perfect,” he says.
He says a child who is physically and mentally ready to specialize:
• Is goal-oriented • Understands that the sport should be fun • Comprehends complex rules of the game • Recognizes the demand that a sport can put on the mind and the body • Can cope with those demands in a healthy way
Above all, “you’ve got to listen to your children,” Hughey says. “Countless coaches have told us that you will know when the time is right. If you’re pushing it, it’s not the right time.” rrp
