WEEKLY JOURNAL
Week 9 FINAL WEEK December 7 - December 12, 2013
Well it has come to my final week of my Mentorship at Bentley Community Schools and final week was a good week. My focus was spent talking with Mr. McComb and thanking him for taking the time to help and provide all the help that he did. He was a great mentor someone I could talk to and ask questions to learn as much as I can. We discussed my future at Bentley as a Football Coach, my future as the Committee Chair for the Boosters, and Committee Chair for the New Bond proposal. Bentley has become a second family to me, as a Coach I enjoyed everyone I worked with but as someone that spent a lot of time in the school during this mentorship everyone became family. I enjoyed my time at Bentley and it wont change as I am still the Head Varsity Football Coach I will continue to spend time with Tim, and time with my colleagues.
The last week was a busy one, as on Wednesday December 11, 2013 Tim and I helped set up, and run the first Varsity Wrestling Meet in the High School. I was able to set up, run tickets, and tear down the meet. Tim said it was a pleasure to work with me and looking forward to the future. Tim and I have been able to concur a lot of pressing issues and we both leaned on each other. Our relationship as mentor/mentee will also stand as I am trying to learn as much as I can about athletics in community schools.
Well it has come to my final week of my Mentorship at Bentley Community Schools and final week was a good week. My focus was spent talking with Mr. McComb and thanking him for taking the time to help and provide all the help that he did. He was a great mentor someone I could talk to and ask questions to learn as much as I can. We discussed my future at Bentley as a Football Coach, my future as the Committee Chair for the Boosters, and Committee Chair for the New Bond proposal. Bentley has become a second family to me, as a Coach I enjoyed everyone I worked with but as someone that spent a lot of time in the school during this mentorship everyone became family. I enjoyed my time at Bentley and it wont change as I am still the Head Varsity Football Coach I will continue to spend time with Tim, and time with my colleagues.
The last week was a busy one, as on Wednesday December 11, 2013 Tim and I helped set up, and run the first Varsity Wrestling Meet in the High School. I was able to set up, run tickets, and tear down the meet. Tim said it was a pleasure to work with me and looking forward to the future. Tim and I have been able to concur a lot of pressing issues and we both leaned on each other. Our relationship as mentor/mentee will also stand as I am trying to learn as much as I can about athletics in community schools.
Week 7 & 8 November 25 - December 6, 2013
Again due to traveling and the holiday I was only to put in a few hours over the two weeks. The school was only opened two days the week of the 25. Those two days were spent conducting pre season eligibility reports for wrestling, boys and girls basketball. The initial report was used to identify any athletes that are struggling and need a bit of help to ensure they are able to play their season. Conducted not only grade checks but also checked addresses, and start date. Bentley is part of a program here in Michigan called, School of Choice. School of Choice is a program where a student can choose where they go to school. The Michigan High School Athletic association (MHSAA) is very strict on the timeframe of a student entering a school of choice program. If a student does not live in the district they must sit out a full semester of all sports before playing any sports. For example if a student lived in Goodrich, but choose to go to Burton Bentley they would need to sit out a full semester August to January before playing any sports. So as part of the initial season eligibility report is to check grades, addresses, and enrollment date.
After the Thanksgiving break I was tasked to find each student who signed to play a winter sport and is struggling with grades into a private meeting to determine a plan of attack on improving those grades. We tried to put action plans in place to improve those grades either through tutoring, the national honor society, or meetings with teachers. The goal of Bentley is to provide the best educational experience they can and that includes athletics.
Again due to traveling and the holiday I was only to put in a few hours over the two weeks. The school was only opened two days the week of the 25. Those two days were spent conducting pre season eligibility reports for wrestling, boys and girls basketball. The initial report was used to identify any athletes that are struggling and need a bit of help to ensure they are able to play their season. Conducted not only grade checks but also checked addresses, and start date. Bentley is part of a program here in Michigan called, School of Choice. School of Choice is a program where a student can choose where they go to school. The Michigan High School Athletic association (MHSAA) is very strict on the timeframe of a student entering a school of choice program. If a student does not live in the district they must sit out a full semester of all sports before playing any sports. For example if a student lived in Goodrich, but choose to go to Burton Bentley they would need to sit out a full semester August to January before playing any sports. So as part of the initial season eligibility report is to check grades, addresses, and enrollment date.
After the Thanksgiving break I was tasked to find each student who signed to play a winter sport and is struggling with grades into a private meeting to determine a plan of attack on improving those grades. We tried to put action plans in place to improve those grades either through tutoring, the national honor society, or meetings with teachers. The goal of Bentley is to provide the best educational experience they can and that includes athletics.
Week 5 & 6 November 11 - November 24, 2013
Due to traveling for my day job I wasn't able to put in a lot of work with my mentorship. I had to travel to Southern Ohio to conduct safety inspections and safety training. The little time I had at the school was spent keeping busy with preparation for the 2013 Varsity Football Banquet. I was only able to work Thursday November 14 and that was spent picking up awards, finishing up the stats book, picking up food, and setting up the cafeteria for the banquet. They did not have school on the 15 and came back the next week with a lot on my plate.
When I came in the following week Mr. McComb had a lot planned for me. We held our first Junior High Wrestling Meet and Mr. McComb allowed me to set it up, and run the meet. I first confirmed that all schools coming are coming and plan to be on time. I then did a search for all equipment needed for the meet including tables, chairs, scoreboards, wrestling tape, and mats. Coordinated with the gym class to have them help set up the wrestling mats for the meet after school. Mr. McComb showed me the process for setting up the gate and concession boxes including the starting amounts which were $1510.00 for concessions and $100.00 in change for the gate. These amounts are critical for change and to ensure there is enough money for change when the meet starts. Then the next day Mr. McComb showed me how he counts, and deposited the money from the meet on the previous day. I also asked Mr. McCmob the progress of approval for the "White Card Program" (The template is in the Project section of the website). He said the program is being reviewed again by the Superintendent and the next step is the School Board. Mr. McComb, and Mr. Hart (The Principal) both agree the hardest part of the approval process will be the teachers approval. The teachers may struggle with having athletes come to them on a bi weekly basis to get their grades. I suggested the problem I as a Coach have is that teachers do not update their grades on Synergy enough for the grades to be accurate. This system may force teachers to upgrade their grades daily which will help coaches, parents, and students to understand their true grade.
Due to traveling for my day job I wasn't able to put in a lot of work with my mentorship. I had to travel to Southern Ohio to conduct safety inspections and safety training. The little time I had at the school was spent keeping busy with preparation for the 2013 Varsity Football Banquet. I was only able to work Thursday November 14 and that was spent picking up awards, finishing up the stats book, picking up food, and setting up the cafeteria for the banquet. They did not have school on the 15 and came back the next week with a lot on my plate.
When I came in the following week Mr. McComb had a lot planned for me. We held our first Junior High Wrestling Meet and Mr. McComb allowed me to set it up, and run the meet. I first confirmed that all schools coming are coming and plan to be on time. I then did a search for all equipment needed for the meet including tables, chairs, scoreboards, wrestling tape, and mats. Coordinated with the gym class to have them help set up the wrestling mats for the meet after school. Mr. McComb showed me the process for setting up the gate and concession boxes including the starting amounts which were $1510.00 for concessions and $100.00 in change for the gate. These amounts are critical for change and to ensure there is enough money for change when the meet starts. Then the next day Mr. McComb showed me how he counts, and deposited the money from the meet on the previous day. I also asked Mr. McCmob the progress of approval for the "White Card Program" (The template is in the Project section of the website). He said the program is being reviewed again by the Superintendent and the next step is the School Board. Mr. McComb, and Mr. Hart (The Principal) both agree the hardest part of the approval process will be the teachers approval. The teachers may struggle with having athletes come to them on a bi weekly basis to get their grades. I suggested the problem I as a Coach have is that teachers do not update their grades on Synergy enough for the grades to be accurate. This system may force teachers to upgrade their grades daily which will help coaches, parents, and students to understand their true grade.
Week 4 November 4, 2013 - November 10, 2013
This week I was tasked to try and increase participation in sports at the junior high level, the numbers have been okay but overall are not where they should be. I decided my best bet was to interact with the students at the junior high. So I sat down with current athletes in the middle school and discussed why they play, their purpose for why they play, and there goals they are trying to accomplish. I complied all the results from all the kids I interviewed which were students from sixth to eighth grade. I submitted those results to Mr. McComb, Mr. Eddy, and Mr. Hart. The very next day I selected a random number of girls and boys ranging from sixth to eighth grade and asked them why they don't play sports for Bentley. The responses were shocking to me. I guess time has changed since I have played sports where I played for the team, the school, and the community. Some responses were "I don't have time, I don't like to run, I don't like to sweat, Its takes up too much time, and I would rather play video games." I presented these concerns to Mr. McComb, and came to a conclusion that we need all coaches on board to help increase participation in junior high sports. I suggested that coaches focus more time and energy on the younger athletes because in the long run its the younger athletes that will be the future of Bentley. We decided to come back to this subject later in December before break to discuss with all coaches the options to try and increase participation.
Furthermore I held my goal meeting with Tim and outlined my future and my goals of becoming an Athletic Director. I want to be an Athletic Director because I found my true passion when I started coaching and realized that working with kids is my passion. I expressed my goal is to become an Athletic Director within a year of graduation, and stressed this would be my career not just a job. Tim stressed to me how proud he was of me making a tough decision to get out of what I am doing now to do my passion.
This week I was tasked to try and increase participation in sports at the junior high level, the numbers have been okay but overall are not where they should be. I decided my best bet was to interact with the students at the junior high. So I sat down with current athletes in the middle school and discussed why they play, their purpose for why they play, and there goals they are trying to accomplish. I complied all the results from all the kids I interviewed which were students from sixth to eighth grade. I submitted those results to Mr. McComb, Mr. Eddy, and Mr. Hart. The very next day I selected a random number of girls and boys ranging from sixth to eighth grade and asked them why they don't play sports for Bentley. The responses were shocking to me. I guess time has changed since I have played sports where I played for the team, the school, and the community. Some responses were "I don't have time, I don't like to run, I don't like to sweat, Its takes up too much time, and I would rather play video games." I presented these concerns to Mr. McComb, and came to a conclusion that we need all coaches on board to help increase participation in junior high sports. I suggested that coaches focus more time and energy on the younger athletes because in the long run its the younger athletes that will be the future of Bentley. We decided to come back to this subject later in December before break to discuss with all coaches the options to try and increase participation.
Furthermore I held my goal meeting with Tim and outlined my future and my goals of becoming an Athletic Director. I want to be an Athletic Director because I found my true passion when I started coaching and realized that working with kids is my passion. I expressed my goal is to become an Athletic Director within a year of graduation, and stressed this would be my career not just a job. Tim stressed to me how proud he was of me making a tough decision to get out of what I am doing now to do my passion.
So Far So Good
Well it has been a great experience so far to learn how an Athletic Director works. I have been able to see the day to day operations of what Mr. McComb does everyday. I am extremely pleased with the information that Tim has provided me on how his job is and what he enjoys about his job. He has helped me gain a better knowledge base of how the little things as an athletic director are so important. Something as little as scheduling, developing two year contracts with other schools for scheduling purposes, and hiring coaches. The one obstacle I have encountered is the review process, everything needs to be approved and the process takes a bit of time. The "White Card Program" I presented to Mr. McComb has been in the review process since the beginning of my mentorship. I understand because it being a public school everything needs to approved by the board, but the process could go a bit smoother and quicker. I have a meeting scheduled with the Superintendent after Thanksgiving to try and move the program along. I believe this program will help increase the grades of athletes at Bentley Schools.
Well it has been a great experience so far to learn how an Athletic Director works. I have been able to see the day to day operations of what Mr. McComb does everyday. I am extremely pleased with the information that Tim has provided me on how his job is and what he enjoys about his job. He has helped me gain a better knowledge base of how the little things as an athletic director are so important. Something as little as scheduling, developing two year contracts with other schools for scheduling purposes, and hiring coaches. The one obstacle I have encountered is the review process, everything needs to be approved and the process takes a bit of time. The "White Card Program" I presented to Mr. McComb has been in the review process since the beginning of my mentorship. I understand because it being a public school everything needs to approved by the board, but the process could go a bit smoother and quicker. I have a meeting scheduled with the Superintendent after Thanksgiving to try and move the program along. I believe this program will help increase the grades of athletes at Bentley Schools.
Week 3 October 28 - November 3, 2013
The third week of my mentorship I was tasked with conducting a inventory of all High School Football, Volleyball, Junior High Football, and Junior High girls Basketball equipment. This included all practice equipment, game jerseys, and practice equipment. Mr. McComb asked if I could develop a report to be delivered to him, principals, and superintendent on all current equipment, missing equipment, and condition of current equipment. Bentley is in the process of raising funds for new equipment to all sports and the current Superintendent wanted know the status of what we have. We also put a charge on each player who has not turned in their stuff. I developed the report for each sport, with listing of each athlete who will have a charge submitted to their account for missing equipment.
Tim was in the process of scheduling basketball games for the winter and determined that there are a few open weeks for the 2014 football season and tasked me with contacting schools about signing a two year contract to fill out of those weeks for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
I was later asked to develop a spreadsheet for our all league voting for volleyball. The all league spreadsheet lists each team within the league and their nominations for all league. The all league meeting was held on Sunday 11/3/2013 for both Football, and Volleyball I was unable to work the Volleyball all league meeting as Mr. McComb was the selected Athletic Director from the league to run this meeting. I had to conduct my all league voting for my football team that day. We later called each player who received First, Second or Honorable Mention.
Lastly Tim and myself developed and implemented a new Bentley Athletic Coach Evaluation which will be used to evaluate each and every coach within the Bentley district. We conducted our first evaluation on the Junior High Football coaches which was a huge success.
The third week of my mentorship I was tasked with conducting a inventory of all High School Football, Volleyball, Junior High Football, and Junior High girls Basketball equipment. This included all practice equipment, game jerseys, and practice equipment. Mr. McComb asked if I could develop a report to be delivered to him, principals, and superintendent on all current equipment, missing equipment, and condition of current equipment. Bentley is in the process of raising funds for new equipment to all sports and the current Superintendent wanted know the status of what we have. We also put a charge on each player who has not turned in their stuff. I developed the report for each sport, with listing of each athlete who will have a charge submitted to their account for missing equipment.
Tim was in the process of scheduling basketball games for the winter and determined that there are a few open weeks for the 2014 football season and tasked me with contacting schools about signing a two year contract to fill out of those weeks for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
I was later asked to develop a spreadsheet for our all league voting for volleyball. The all league spreadsheet lists each team within the league and their nominations for all league. The all league meeting was held on Sunday 11/3/2013 for both Football, and Volleyball I was unable to work the Volleyball all league meeting as Mr. McComb was the selected Athletic Director from the league to run this meeting. I had to conduct my all league voting for my football team that day. We later called each player who received First, Second or Honorable Mention.
Lastly Tim and myself developed and implemented a new Bentley Athletic Coach Evaluation which will be used to evaluate each and every coach within the Bentley district. We conducted our first evaluation on the Junior High Football coaches which was a huge success.
Week 2 October 21-27, 2013
My second week working at Bentley Community Schools as an intern Athletic Director was very interesting. My first day was learning the school, the evacuation plans, and getting myself familiar with the computer system Synergy. Synergy is a data base that has every student's information from contact information to grades. I spent a couple of hours on learning the system and how to search for student's information. I was then tasked with checking the eligibility of all student athletes, I started with searching each student by grade and checking their current grades to ensure they were within the Bentley Community Schools guidelines. Any student with a grade below the minimum was contacted personally and told they had until Friday to get their grades up to the standard. I checked the eligibility of all Varsity Football, Junior High Football, Varsity Girls Volleyball, Junior High Volleyball, Junior High Girls Basketball, and Cheerleaders. A report was put together for Tim the Athletic Director, Rex Hart the Principal, and for all coaches. The report was put in each and every coaches mailbox. Furthermore, I learned the process of calling and scheduling referees for all current sporting events.
Later I was tasked to develop interview questions for the interviews, which were set up later that day. Tim asked me to be part of the interview committee and help with the determination of the hiring of a Junior Varsity Girls Basketball Coach. We interviewed three gentleman for the position and as we were going through our stock questions it was interesting to see myself get more and more involved with follow up questions. It was in away pushing me to be better and to ensure I do a great job of hiring someone to do the job with high expectations. I used my experience as a coach at Bentley to help me with my questions as I endured a lot through my five years and to have someone ask questions as I did would of prepared me for what I was getting myself into. Overall the first week was very involved and it was a great experience to be part of a interview committee.
My second week working at Bentley Community Schools as an intern Athletic Director was very interesting. My first day was learning the school, the evacuation plans, and getting myself familiar with the computer system Synergy. Synergy is a data base that has every student's information from contact information to grades. I spent a couple of hours on learning the system and how to search for student's information. I was then tasked with checking the eligibility of all student athletes, I started with searching each student by grade and checking their current grades to ensure they were within the Bentley Community Schools guidelines. Any student with a grade below the minimum was contacted personally and told they had until Friday to get their grades up to the standard. I checked the eligibility of all Varsity Football, Junior High Football, Varsity Girls Volleyball, Junior High Volleyball, Junior High Girls Basketball, and Cheerleaders. A report was put together for Tim the Athletic Director, Rex Hart the Principal, and for all coaches. The report was put in each and every coaches mailbox. Furthermore, I learned the process of calling and scheduling referees for all current sporting events.
Later I was tasked to develop interview questions for the interviews, which were set up later that day. Tim asked me to be part of the interview committee and help with the determination of the hiring of a Junior Varsity Girls Basketball Coach. We interviewed three gentleman for the position and as we were going through our stock questions it was interesting to see myself get more and more involved with follow up questions. It was in away pushing me to be better and to ensure I do a great job of hiring someone to do the job with high expectations. I used my experience as a coach at Bentley to help me with my questions as I endured a lot through my five years and to have someone ask questions as I did would of prepared me for what I was getting myself into. Overall the first week was very involved and it was a great experience to be part of a interview committee.
Week 1 October 14 - 20, 2013
Week one of the mentorship was very interesting as I was introduced to Synergy which is a database that has all students information in it. I was given my log in and was asked to set up the eligibility criteria which helps run reports for Mr. McComb. In the past he was checking grades by each athlete this set up will help Mr. McComb hit one button to run a report for all athletes. I ran the first report and had no issues with the set up, the system is very easy to understand and work in. The next couple of days I had the pleasure to meet with the Superintendent Mrs. Dupuis, High School Principal Rexford Hart, and Junior High Principal Brian Eddy. I met with each administrator to discuss my goals during my mentorship, their expectations of me and to gain a better understand of their mission, vision, and management style.
Next couple of days I started working on a "White Card Program", the White Card Program that I have been working on for all athletes. The White Card is a card that all athletes will need to have signed and filled out by their teachers every two weeks. Once the card is completed it is up to the athlete to turn into their respective coach. The White Card will give the coach an update on grades, and behavior in each class. In order to play the current week or following week. This program will help provide the information coaches need to keep their athletes grades up where they need to be. This will allow coaches to be more actively involved with the grades of their players.
Week one of the mentorship was very interesting as I was introduced to Synergy which is a database that has all students information in it. I was given my log in and was asked to set up the eligibility criteria which helps run reports for Mr. McComb. In the past he was checking grades by each athlete this set up will help Mr. McComb hit one button to run a report for all athletes. I ran the first report and had no issues with the set up, the system is very easy to understand and work in. The next couple of days I had the pleasure to meet with the Superintendent Mrs. Dupuis, High School Principal Rexford Hart, and Junior High Principal Brian Eddy. I met with each administrator to discuss my goals during my mentorship, their expectations of me and to gain a better understand of their mission, vision, and management style.
Next couple of days I started working on a "White Card Program", the White Card Program that I have been working on for all athletes. The White Card is a card that all athletes will need to have signed and filled out by their teachers every two weeks. Once the card is completed it is up to the athlete to turn into their respective coach. The White Card will give the coach an update on grades, and behavior in each class. In order to play the current week or following week. This program will help provide the information coaches need to keep their athletes grades up where they need to be. This will allow coaches to be more actively involved with the grades of their players.