Who Says That Academics and Athletics Can’t Co-Exist?

Who says that being successful on the high school football or soccer field, or performing well on a secondary school’s basketball court can’t translate to doing well in the classroom? The bane of existence for high students, parents, teachers, coaches, and administrators for nearly as long as sports and academics have battled for supremacy in the eyes of those attending and employed in public and private schools throughout the country, the two entities, it can be confidently stated, don’t often coexist in melodious harmony; instead, both seemed destined to become contrasting goals, more times than not serving as a major source of frustration for all parties participating and / or involved. Yet, all hope is not lost – at least, to hear a handful of students and coaches at Garden City High School near Detroit, Michigan tell it. Here, a group of four seniors on the Garden City varsity basketball team are proving that solid production on the hardwood as well as in the classroom is truly something that can and should go hand-in-hand. An article in the Observer & Eccentric newspapers notes that Kevin Burek, Bryan Grace, Michael Pack, and Ronald Pummill offer up an outstanding “mix of athletic talent, humbleness and 3.2-or-better book smarts,” with Pummill the leader of the group, maintaining a 4..1 grade-point-average. All four are starters for the basketball team, but their participation in sports doesn’t stop there; Grace, Pack, and Pummill are three-sport varsity letter winners while Burek also plays soccer. “They’re strong examples of what a student-athlete is supposed to be all about,” says Garden City school counselor, Greg Williamson. “Three of them play three sports and Kevin Burek plays two sports. [Still] their academics and behavior and leadership roles are just exemplary.” What’s their secret? Says Pack, “You have a lot of homework to do, you don’t give up. Sports kind teaches you that. You keep working and working until you find the solution to the problem.” Pummill adds to Pack’s statement, commenting that when it comes to meshing sports and academic, “The same work ethic and responsibility, how you represent yourself and your school in everything you do expands into life. It teaches you valuable lessons like teamwork and how to excel and accomplish tasks.” Says Williamson, “Whether . . . on the court, in the classroom or with their families, [these students] need to do it all” – and somehow they manage to do just that. The accompanying rewards make that process well worth it, too; after all, notes the piece, Pummill is a Michigan High School Athletic Association 2009 Scholar-Athlete finalist, while Grace plans on playing football at Olivet Nazarene University. Yet, the true satisfaction lies in knowing that the four students mentioned above have learned what it means to earn the opportunity to showcase their talents, both inside the classroom and out. “We talk about entitlements and rights and privileges all the time,” concludes Williamson. “A lot of kids feel they’re entitled to certain things . . . . [sports, however, are] a privilege to be involved it,” he continues, with Burek, Grace, Pack, and Pummill all proving “you earn that privilege every day by doing the right things.”