Unfortunate Basketball Transfers Speak to a Culture of
Selfishness
Unfortunate Basketball Transfers Speak to a Culture of Selfishness
Dear Editor,
A few friends of mine called me after they read the Dispatch story about a couple of Milpitas High School basketball players that recently transferred to Gilroy High, so I thought I would write. I appreciate the article and the accurate quotes that my dad gave. He is a man of integrity, always has been.
What he has taught and teaches goes far and above the number of wins that he has earned. In nearly 40 years of coaching he has never had a player transfer, which amounts to well over 500 players.
It used to be that high school ballplayers remained loyal to their team and teammates rather than transferring to schools to benefit themselves. That has changed.
Unfortunately, after countless hours of Milpitas High’s coaches developing and counseling a parent of one of the young men chose to have his son transfer.
High school basketball is always about more than wins and losses. It’s about learning life lessons, integrity being one of them. When the going gets tough – and the going gets tougher as life goes on – who has integrity? Players, teammates and coaches who hang in there.
So, who lost in this case? Not the Milpitas High School basketball team, players, or coaching staff … in fact, we are going to have a great season. Always do.
Aaron Cain, son of Steve Cain, Danville
What’s Needed is a Board ‘Tactical Plan’ on Field-Trip Policy
Dear Editor,
Cynthia Walker believes that Gilroy parents do not value education. She also believes that the Gilroy school board was swayed by begging and whining cheerleaders into letting them go to Hawaii. Does she really believe this or is she using sarcasm as a literary vehicle to try to make a point? No one has ever disputed the need for significant improvement in Gilroy schools.
I saw an issue of unequal application of a policy get corrected and the board take the inadequate policy back to the drawing board. I saw parents, teachers and board members genuinely concerned with the quality of education at Gilroy High School. I saw discussion and dialog, sometimes heated, that resulted in a thoughtful compromise to a single issue.
The apparent sarcasm from columnist Dina Campeau is veiled enough that maybe her congratulations for the cheerleaders is genuine. It is hard to tell. At least in her column she makes some good observations directly from the meeting. I found it hard to follow her line of reasoning regarding the Dispatch meeting with specific board members. Whatever the intended reason for the meeting, the resulting perception was the Dispatch playing favorites rather than fairly reporting the facts.
These two columns occupy almost two-thirds of a full page. Sadly, in all those words there was not one constructive suggestion for how to help the GUSD board achieve it’s goal of creating a culture of academic excellence in Gilroy schools.
The Gilroy school board is taking a step forward by re-examining the field-trip policy. The next step should be a minimum GPA requirement for participation in any extra-curricular activity. A GPA requirement that is based on a high standard of expectation for excellence. To change the current culture of Gilroy schools, the Gilroy School Board and Superintendent Edwin Diaz should develop a comprehensive, multi-year tactical plan to implement the current strategic plan.
This plan should map out the necessary steps, in specific detail, to achieve a culture of academic excellence, and then apply the plan equally to all students.
Phil Johnson, Gilroy
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a
well-written letter.
