October 24 Independent

Here is the article that will appear in this weekend's Grand Ledge Independent.  

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The Greater Lansing Cross Country Invitational was the brainchild of Jim Brandt and Grand Ledge has hosted the event every year since 1989.  Almost forty schools sent boys and girls teams to participate in this event last weekend.

It was remarkable!  At the beginning of the race, all forty teams line up, the starter calls “On your mark,” the gun sounds, and almost two hundred runners storm towards the first turn.  This year – an even numbered year - the boys ran first and then forty-five minutes later the girls started.  Last year, the girls started first and then forty-five minutes later the boys started.    

By the time they came around the first big turn, the runners were spread out over more than fifty yards.  The winners crossed the finish line about sixteen minutes after the race began.  The last person to finish arrived about thirty-five minutes after the race started.

The most remarkable thing about the race to me was that the fifth place finisher on a team had as much, or more, impact on the team score than the person from the team who finished first.  This sport truly epitomizes the team concept.

As I watched the event last Saturday, I learned a little about how teams earn points and how you determine who wins.  Every runner earns points.  The points you earn are determined by where you finish.  If you finish first you earn one point.  If you finish second you earn two points.  

The team score is determined by adding up the points each runner earned.  Each team could run seven but could only count the top five scores.  If your team had runners in first, fourth, twelfth, twentieth, and thirtieth place, your team earned one, four, twelve, twenty, and thirty points.  Add those up and you have your team score.  The team that wins has the lowest combined score of its top five runners.  

It was important for each of the seven runners to finish as high as they could.  A team’s seventh place finisher could knock a runner from another team down a notch or two by finishing ahead of them.

This was the first cross-county meet I had ever seen in person.  I marveled at the effort each of the student-athletes gave.  The runners gave all they had, hoping to finish as they expended their last bit of effort.  Steve Gabriel, our high school principal, said to me, “Why would you want to have anything left when you finished?”  As I looked into the faces of these high school students as they finished the race, most of them had given everything they had.

This athletic event reflects the importance of the team, almost more than any other sport.  The fifth place finisher on your team helped determine if your team wins as much as the first place finisher.  In fact, the seventh place finisher on your team has an impact as well.

This made me think about our school district.  Our school district cannot be excellent unless everyone contributes to our success.  We can have a wonderful band program but if our academics are weak – using the cross-country analogy – our team will not score as well.  Or our academics can be strong but if our extra-curricular offerings are poor, the overall strength of the district is diminished.  If our building principals talk to parents and get to know the public but the Superintendent hides behind his desk, then our district suffers.

We have a lot to offer in our district.  Our academic programs, our bands and choirs, and our athletic teams are all strong.  Secretaries and custodians and food service employees and departments contribute to our success. 

When parents and students look at us, they judge our school district based on their experience with a wide range of departments, offices, schools, and employees.  My goal is for our school district to function as a team, recognizing that every part of our organization contributes to our success.  If one part of our organization fails, then every other part of the organizations suffers.

I learned a lot last Saturday as I watched the Greater Lansing Cross-Country Invitational.  One of the lessons that I was reminded of is that it is important for every part of the team to function well if we expect to win.  A weakness anywhere affects the team score.  

As we continue to work to improve our district, my goal is for us to be strong as a team so that we can meet the needs of every student who attends our schools.