ISD 181 Viewpoint: Building tomorrow's workforce, citizens and leaders one drill, practice and competition at a time

On the morning of Monday, Aug. 14, dreams of a championship, a trip to state, or earning a spot on the varsity roster will begin in earnest as Warrior coaches and athletes for eight different high school sports will embark on yet another season in the long and storied history of Brainerd High School athletics. This is an exciting time of year as months of anticipation, planning and personal growth begins to play itself out for Warrior student-athletes and their respective teams. While it is impossible to predict a season's journey or its outcome, we know these programs have tremendous value for our students, school and our community. We know this because the real value transcends the results on the scoreboards and stat sheets.

What value do educationally-based activities have for our young people? What value do these activities have for our communities? It is certain that a positive, healthy school environment is dependent upon a student body that chooses to engage in programming that extends beyond the normal school day. Decades of research affirms that students who choose to participate in our activities program are much more likely to:

• Have better attendance

• Earn higher grade-point averages

• Have lower dropout rates

• Graduate from high school

• Record fewer discipline problems

• Remain drug free

• Attend college

Intentional coaches help build performance (relationship to self) and moral (relationship to others) character traits in our student-athletes. Our coaches help build critical traits that are necessary to develop civic-minded, and high functioning adults in our community. These traits include:

Moral character traits

• Integrity

• Compassion

• Kindness

• Generous

• Courage

Performance character traits

• Perseverance

• Critical thinking/problem solving

• Strong work ethic

• Self-discipline

• Teamwork

And so another season begins. We will continue to build tomorrow's workforce, citizens and leaders one drill, practice and competition at a time. This is what we do. We coach and play beyond the scoreboard. We coach to change lives. It is the Warrior Way. Go Warriors!

Online registration for activities grades six-12 will be available at www.brainerd-warriors.com on/or about Aug. 1.

Charlie Campbell is Brainerd Public Schools athletic director