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For the week of December 24 - 30, 2003

News

Education aspect of skiing hits its stride

SVSEF initiates Academic Room program


By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Is Sun Valley just a resort for players? Or is it, and the entire Wood River Valley, also a place where homegrown skiing and snowboarding talents can be nurtured and educated at the same time?

After a grueling day on the mountain training, John Cole, SVSEF academic director, works with skiers and WRHS 10th-graders Kate Sawicz, left, and Elitsa Storey on their studies in the SVSEF Academic Room. Express photo by David N. Seelig

Proving that it can be more than just an athlete’s playground, the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation is putting its money into a portion of its name—Education.

In the SVSEF’s mission statement reads, in part: "The primary goal of the program is to assist each participant in reaching his or her desired athletic and academic potential, while developing the lifelong skills of goal-setting, self-discipline, sportsmanship and time management."

That is one healthy statement that, fortunately, has been followed up on with the commitment of the SVSEF’s board of directors.

"We’ve really stepped up our participation in education," SVSEF Executive Director Don Wiseman said. "To be competitive kids need to be in the snow and on the hill." But they’re also required to keep up with their education at the same time, he added.

To that end, "We employ a full time academic director, John Cole, who has taught in the schools in the valley. We rented a room, at a hell of a deal, from Eagle Crest Inn in Warm Springs. Cox Cable donated on-line cable hookup and Smith and Scott donated six computers."

They also have two lap tops, though there are hookups for twice as many computers. All SVSEF members can utilize the Academic Room, which is open for studying, work in on-line courses and for tutoring Monday from 1 to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:30 to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m.

Cole, who has 25 years teaching experience, including 10 years teaching biology at WRHS and seven years at The Community School, makes it possible for kids to keep up with assignments and take courses on-line to earn credits.

If there are many students traveling for races, Cole will also accompany them on the road. Teachers at The Community School e-mail assignments to their students. For Wood River High School kids, Cole works with the teachers closely since each teacher has so many more students to account for. He also sets up an area at hotels, which have been vetted for on-line access, where the kids come to study at the end of the race day.

Naturally, there are pretty strict rules to make this all work. Prior to traveling to an out of town race, a student must be up to date with all work in all classes at school. The student must get a pre-excuse signed by teachers at school and notify them of the time and length of the absence. Teachers generally do not excuse a student who is below a "C" grade in class.

"I confer with the teacher if this is the case," Cole said. "The teacher has the option to make the call, based on circumstance."

Cole must have in hand the signed pre-excuses three days prior to a student leaving for a race. The student must obtain advance assignments if they’re available and give their teachers email addresses. Most importantly, Cole facilitates follow-up assignments and on-going communication with teachers during their time on the road.

"Our local kids, who’re really into skiing, they couldn’t get enough training time to be competitive with the kids who are at ski academies," Cole said. "What we did was to come up with this program to satisfy training needs as well as potentially improve their education. The main thing is to ensure kids get a quality education."

The kids seem to agree. One of the WRHS Snowboard team members, 10th-grader Spencer Cordovano thinks working with Cole has helped him. "It’s so rad," he said. "I love that guy."

There are ski, snowboard, freestyle and Nordic team members who attend both The Community School and Wood River High School. Because The Community School is a private school with a different curriculum, only WRHS students can take the online classes in the academic room.

One reason this system is particularly appealing for WRHS students is the zero period, which starts a 7 a.m. on school days. By using this extra time at the school, students in the ski program can leave school before lunch and be on the mountain for training at 11 a.m. Then after a full ski day, they go to the Academic Room and study either alone or with Cole.

"The system seems to work fairly well," Wiseman said. "The average GPA for our traveling kids was 3.3 last year."

There are approximately 17 kids currently in the Academic Room program. The schools are happy because this way they can still fulfill attendance requirements, Wiseman said.

"The option is to take two classes at WRHS and pick up two online courses, which are acceptable courses, under my supervision," Cole said.

We "utilize the Idaho Digital Learning Academy, as their courses parallel the state’s curriculum exactly," Cole said. They are also using Brigham Young University’s online courses. IDLA charges $100 a course, while BYU’s courses may cost anywhere from $100 to $500. Aside from these costs, there is a cost for Cole’s time and the extra training with coaches on the mountain. Cole’s tutoring advice is free to any of the kids.

"The whole program is for the skier or snowboarder who has said, ‘Gee, I really want to center my deal around becoming the absolute best skier or snowboarder that I can be,’" Cole said. "It’s intentionally not just for the elite skier. It’s available to anyone who has demonstrated that desire. It requires taking summer school classes and these classes. It’s a real dedication across the board."

When Cole is away with the teams, backup tutor Jeff Graves handles the Academic Room duties. Graves taught at the Wildcat Ski Academy in Jackson, N.H., as well as at the University of New Hampshire, where he received his master’s degree in physics.

"We needed a place to do this," Wiseman said. Before the kids were studying in the SVSEF offices at the base of Baldy in Warm Springs.

"It wasn’t fair, they weren’t able to study correctly," he added. "Now they walk in to a totally different environment. It’s still evolving, this is what these kids need,"

 

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