Highline School Superintendent Blog

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Student scholarship recipients pose with athletic directors, Ashley Fosberg, and myself

Last week, Highline held its inaugural Scholar-Athlete, Coach and Community Recognition Banquet. It was a tremendous success! You'd have never known this was the first year we've attempted something like this. The turnout was phenomenal - in fact, the event was filled beyond capacity.

For those of you who aren't familiar, district athletic director Terri McMahan teamed up with the Highline Schools Foundation to raise scholarship money and honor outstanding coaches. Four students per high school campus were selected as "nominees", and all received at least $500 in scholarship funds. Those who received more are noted below. Middle and high school coaches were also honored, as were retiring coaches Dave Larson (Highline baseball, 16 years), Darren Rawie (Mt. Rainier baseball, 12 years), and Doris Burdin (Evergreen tennis, an astounding 48 years!).

The event got great press coverage and you can see more photos in the articles by the Highline Times and B-Town Blog.

I'd like to commend Terri McMahan for initiating this event. She marshaled significant resources through donations and kept an eye out for every detail. Terri's speech was truly inspirational, calling on students to accept help when others can help them, and to pay it back when they are in a position to do so.

You don't hear the term "scholar athlete" as often as you used to, but as MC Bob Rondeau noted, the concept of the athlete scholar is alive and well. This group of 16 athletes, of every race and corner of the district, has distinguished itself on the playing field and in the classroom. They have impressive academic aspirations, and I have no doubt they will be lining up to support future generations of students, just as Terri suggested they would.

Let's have another great Scholar-Athlete banquet next year!