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Tough policy pays off at LHS
BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON
Lincoln Journal Star, Sunday, March 24, 1996
The following is quoted from page 5D:
Larry Parker likes to think of Lincoln High's tough
academic policy for athletes as simply increasing expectations.
"The kids and parents know what our expectations
are," said Parker, the school's athletic director. "It's not a secret.
And people have geared themselves to it. The kids have adjusted
to the levels of expectations."
The Lincoln
High student-athlete policy goes beyond
the requirements of the Nebraska School Activities Association.
Lincoln High requires athletes to be enrolled in and maintain 30
hours a semester and they must pass at least 25 hours. The NSAA
requires athletes to take 20 hours per semester. A 30-hour semester
would generally mean taking six classes a day.
Some of Lincoln High's success in this venture
is visible in the number of athletes honored today on the Lincoln
Journal-Star academic all-state teams for the winter sports. Varsity
starters or athletes who make significant contributions are eligible
if they are juniors or seniors. Coaches are sent ballots to nominate
student-athletes. Each sport (girls' basketball, boys' basketball,
wrestling, and swimming) is judged separately, so grade cutoffs
may be different for various sports.
A total of 19 LHS athletes are honored today. In
girls' basketball, they are Erin Brestel (3.65 grade-point average),
Cindy Turman (3.77), Katherine Howard (3.76), Laura Kepler (3.93),
and Angela Witte (3.83). Nikki Hoffman just missed the cutoff. In
boys' basketball, the five Links honored are Paulo van den Berg
(3.88), Nick Lahners (3.51), Shane Chiles (3.58), Josh Beaver (3.78)
and Curtis Weber (3.63). The six LHS swimmers are Fances High (3.92),
Rachel Irvin (3.72), Lara Van Andel (3.98), Andy Sawatzki (3.69),
Scott Witt (3.73) and Eric Wolford (3.90). The wrestlers are Ken
Johnson (3.83), Hank Amen (3.98) and Adam Shanesy (3.69).
"Our philosophy is that we are here for one major
reason and that is to see kids graduate," said Parker. "If we can
help expedite that and promote that through athletics, so much the
better. This is our third year of this program and the results we've
seen this year are wonderful."
When Lincoln High started its program, there were
some casualties. Some student-athletes found the tougher-than-usual
requirements difficult and lost some eligibility.
"We don't want to eliminate anyone from athletics
if we can help them," Parker said. "Each year, we have about a half-dozen
or so athletes who maybe only pass 22 or 23 hours. We have come
up with a contract for them. They are told they will miss a certain
number of contests, and then if after a pre-determined period of
time they aren't truant and they have shown they are keeping a pre-determined
level of grades, then they can go back to play."
"We have had some like that who have gone on to
do really well. And we're so proud of them because they made a commitment
to do well academically and then did. They are just as much a success
story as the kids who make academic all-state."
Parker said the program has had other benefits.
"Our teaching staff has been just tremendous in
notifying us on the weekly checks," he said. "The communication
on the staff gets better all the time. We're getting notes from
teachers who notice that there may be a possible problem coming
up. And they talk about the improvement they see in the kids. Everybody
is getting feedback."
This year's winter sport academic all-state teams
include 225 young men and women who ar ranked first in their class.
The cutoffs for wrestling and girls' basketball this year were 3.6,
and the cutoffs for boys' and girls' swimming and boys' basketball
were 3.5.
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