“School board votes to fund gymnastics, cheer, dance” plus 2 more |
- School board votes to fund gymnastics, cheer, dance
- Even ash cloud couldn't cast haze on Michigan men's gymnastics team's NCAA title
- Breakfast of Champions Saturday: 16 sports personalities to be honored
| School board votes to fund gymnastics, cheer, dance Posted: 20 May 2010 09:52 PM PDT Gymnastics and cheer and dance teams got the bounce they need Thursday as the Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education voted to fund both. After hearing emotional pleas from supporters for both sports the past several months, board members unanimously voted Thursday night to sanction cheer and dance and continue funding gymnastics as part of its $200 million preliminary budget. With little fanfare and no discussion, board members approved $30,000 for cheer and dance and almost $25,000 for gymnastics. The district will also pay $12,000 out of the capital outlay fund to rent the former Just Jymnastics facility. "That's exciting," Pam Junek, head coach of the district's gymnastics team, said after hearing the news. Board members were set to discuss the two sports but dropped the discussion as an agenda item at the beginning of the meeting. School board president Wes Storm told audience members, several whom were in attendance to hear the discussion and decision, not to worry. "Gymnastics is included in the budget," he said, prompting cheers and clapping. But dance and cheer team members stayed to make sure the vote went through for their sport. "Thank you for even taking a look at cheer and dance and keeping gymnastics," Trish Mancini, dance and cheer coach, told board members during the meeting. "It means a lot to the girls." The cheer and dance team uses district facilities but has not received funding. This year, 132 students participated in the program. Thirteen students participated in gymnastics this year. The district has rented the Just Jymnastics facility for the team to comply with Office of Civil Rights requirements. Gymnastics supporters argued that the district is still not in compliance with Title IX -- the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational institutions -- and that cutting gymnastics would make it worse. Central High School activity director Darren Paulson said Title IX might have played a small role in the decision but wasn't the entire reason for including both. "We're very happy ... to provide as many opportunities as possible for our students," he said. Junek said she is pleased with the outcome this year but still concerned about the future of the sport. "We've been going one year at a time for several years," she said. Out of the 17 AA schools in South Dakota, four do not sanction cheer and dance, Stevens and Central high schools included. For gymnastics, 13 of the 17 offer it as a sanctioned sport, but three are considering cutting it because of low participation. Adding cheer and dance is one example of the flexibility of the preliminary budget as board members move toward voting on a finalized version by Oct. 1. The preliminary numbers don't include money for negotiations with the district's labor union bargaining units, which could significantly change the general fund budget. The fund is 85 percent salaries and benefits. The budget also doesn't include an allowance for a health insurance increase, and the district has not received its property/casualty insurance premium estimate. Major changes in the budget include an additional $320,000 in utility costs, a result of the proposed Black Hills Power rate increase. The district made adjustments for the increase by decreasing the contingency fund significantly, from $625,000 last year to $5,600 this year. The contingency fund is used during emergencies, such as additional costs during a difficult winter or an unexpected surge in enrollment that requires hiring more teachers at the last minute, finance director Dave Janak said. With a minimal contingency fund, the district would pull from reserves in the case of an emergency. Administrators will also compare last year's actual expenditures to what was budgeted to decide whether each item needs to be funded at that level again, which could contribute to changes, such as adding cheer and dance, Janak said. Board members expressed concern about the future of the budget, citing the number of times they had to make cuts, including $5 million during the past three years. Board member Sheryl Kirkeby said it is important for voters to pay attention to the six gubernatorial candidates this year, only one of whom has presented a formal plan to provide more funding to K-12 education. "We have cut so many programs," she said. "I can guarantee we have no fat; we were cutting bone last time." Janak said the district has successfully built back its reserves to $9.5 million, about 11 percent of the general fund budget, and expects to increase it again this year. But, there will be cuts in the future if the state continues to freeze increases to the funding formula. Besides July and August, it takes the district about $6.5 million each month to pay its bills. The challenge, Janak said, is that the district only gets "paid" twice a year. Tax payments come in May and November. The budget this year increased from last year by almost $50 million, most of which is accounted for in the capital outlay fund, where $45 million has been added for facility projects. The general fund budget is about $78 million, down from almost $82 million this year. "We've done a phenomenally good job of managing our resources," Janak said. "We just have to be careful how we move forward." Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com
Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Even ash cloud couldn't cast haze on Michigan men's gymnastics team's NCAA title Posted: 20 May 2010 05:43 PM PDT Posted: May 20, 2010 at 8:28 PM [Yesterday] This wasn't the way Kurt Golder envisioned celebrating his second national championship. The Michigan men's gymnastics coach thought he'd be on a plane to Birmingham, England late that April night. Instead, he turned off of State Street into Michigan's athletic complex. Volcanic ash from Iceland wrecked plans that Golder and freshman Rohan Sebastian had to attend the 2010 European championships. First their flight was delayed a day. Then 72 hours, which meant Sebastian would miss his competition. So Golder instead returned to Ann Arbor, well behind the welcome party that greeted the rest of Michigan's team hours before. His return came with no fanfare whatsoever. "That would have been fun," Golder said Thursday as the Michigan athletic department honored his national championship team. "They both would have been fun, but what was meant to be was meant to be, and everything worked out well. "We won our championship so after that, I'll take anything that comes at me." Since returning to Ann Arbor, Golder said he's received a lot of congratulatory e-mails and phone calls, culminating in the Thursday celebration in front of other coaches, athletic director Dave Brandon and the presentation of national championship hats. The team then left for Dearborn, where they were to receive a resolution read by the Michigan Board of Regents at their monthly meeting. For Sebastian, the ash cost him a chance to compete for one of the two countries in which he claims citizenship. Born to Indian parents in Ireland, Sebastian moved to the United States as a kid and settled in Oklahoma, where he watched the Oklahoma gymnastics teams in awe. A member of the Irish National Team since 2007, this wasn't going to be his first overseas competition, which helped ease any weather-related frustration. "I was in great shape, finally, for an international meet," Sebastian said. "Usually these international meets are at weird times of the year. I competed at world championships last year and that was before the season started so I wasn't in top shape, but this one worked out perfectly. "Then a volcano erupted." The collegiate national championship win eased missing the European championships came. He called Michigan's win his best moment in gymnastics - because it came in more of a team atmosphere. "No gymnast goes into college thinking they are going to win a national title in the four years," Sebastian said. "Especially for me as a freshman to win a national title, it's huge and I'm still in shock." Plus, there are always more gymnastics meets in Europe. The Olympics are in London in 2012 - something not lost on Sebastian. "If I can qualify to the Olympics and do well at the Olympics, that would be the height of my career, definitely," Sebastian said. "But right now, I want to win another championship." Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Breakfast of Champions Saturday: 16 sports personalities to be honored Posted: 20 May 2010 04:02 PM PDT If you're looking for a place to eat breakfast this Saturday morning, a suggestion is the Pacifica Moose Lodge. For $10 you can get a great breakfast served by members of the Moose Lodge. For 20 years the Moose Lodge has hosted the Pacifica Sports Club's "breakfast of champions' awards program, honoring local athletes for their accomplishment. The breakfast is made even better when Ang Gaggero puts the finishing touches on the eggs. For more than 40 years, Ang devoted himself to working and helping local youth programs. He was one of the early leaders in raising funds for the Bay Area Special Olympics. Ang, who is a member of the City of Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame, was the head cook at the first "breakfast of champions" program. Today, Ang and his wife, Beverly, live in Brentwood. Ang makes the trip over the Pacifica early to set up for the breakfast. He is assisted by several good Moose Lodge cooks, making it a fun breakfast. Breakfast begins at 9 a.m. The event is open to the public. Tickets are available at the door. The Pacifica Moose Lodge is located at 776 Bradford Way. Athletes being recognized for achievement at their respective schools this year are Jake Barradas and Jenny Piccolotti, Terra Nova; Alyssa Cote and Franks Escajadillo, Oceana; Kristen Mezzera and Lim Zachary, Alma Heights Christian Academy, Andy Vanderbilt, St .Ignatius College Preparatory and Gina Mazzetti, Mercy High School-San Francisco. Six exchange students who played for sports for their respective school will also be recognized. From Terra Nova, Amelie Demmler (Germany), tennis and swimming; Sjoerol Dekker (Holland), cross country; Herta Arnaud (Italy), swimming, Natalie Vasbender (Germany), tennis and swimming water polo and Anthony Van Depitte (Belgium), cross country, track and field and basketball. From Oceana, Arild Geuiges (Germany), basketball Ryan Patterson is the reigning 14-15 age division South African Junior National gymnastics champion. He will compete in the Youth Olympics in Singapore in August. He recently placed eighth at the Junior Olympics Nationals at Knoxville TN.Hazel Beck will receive the PSC's Civic Award. She is the ultimate volunteer. For more than 40 years Hazel has helped organize various recreation races and sports events locally. She has been a leader for the Mercy High School sports booster club and has been a track and field event judge for the past 20 years. She has spent countless hours with the City of Pacifica Sports Hall of Fame raising funds to promote local athletes. At the breakfast each of the honorees will be introduced by a friend or family member of their choice before receiving an award certificate from the Pacifica Sports Club. Pacifica Islanders President Brian Martinez and General Manager Tom Piccolotti will be the guest speakers. They will speak on the community involvement of the Pacifica minor league football team. Recently, members of the Islanders donated time to work on the restoration of the Little Brown Church. For more than 25 years the Pacifica Sports Club has been promoting Pacifica sports program and local athletes. For information about the PSC or Saturday's breakfast call 650-355-1034. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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