Sports and High School Education

The Sochi Winter Olympics has special meaning for me.  I am always awed but the drive and determination of the young athletes and I always find someone to cheer for as the Games progress.

These Games are different.  This winter I know an athlete in Sochi @RussellCurrier is a 26 year old Biathlon competitor making his first Olympic appearance.  Russell grew up in my hometown of Stockholm in northern Maine (pop. 238).  It makes it easy to know everyone in a town that size.

Along the way when Russell was growing up I didn't know him well. We moved away and saw him and his family on those occasions when we were home. He is of my niece's generation so he would be around when the kids were growing up.  Early on it became apparent Russell was a special kid. His involvement with the Maine Winter Sports Center demonstrated his skiing talents early.

But in a recent newspaper interview (http://goo.gl/BDb6s8) this comment from his father jumped out at me.  “He’s the poster child of success for the Maine Winter Sports Center,” said his father, recalling Russell’s initial involvement in the center’s program at Stockholm Elementary School. “They knew he had something under the hood. And it’s not just skiing. His grades and study habits soared [after he started Maine Winter Sports Center programs]. His report card went from Cs to As, and he was elected to the National Honor Society his senior year.”

It made me think of the value of not just sports but all extra curricular activities in schools. 

Just sayin'.