Goodbye to...
The following is the text from the speech delivered by Nolan McKinnon, Middle School Athletic Director, Challenge Teacher and Coach extraordinaire, at the Track & Field Groundbreaking Ceremony.
"Over the past 5 years that I have worked at Innovation Academy I have seen the student body grow in size and in their commitment to excellence, both in academics and athletics. It is the hard work and dedication of the students and their families in addition to a visionary administration and supporting board of directors that has made this wonderful expansion possible.
For years the students at Innovation have been asked to participate in both challenge classes and competitive athletics on, to put it mildly, a substandard field. And they did so without complaint and with great success, from the boy’s middle school track team placing second in the state last season, to the boy’s high school soccer team having their first winning season in the fall of 2010, as well as the girls middle school soccer team winning their first playoff game and of course the middle school boy’s soccer team winning the EAA championship this past fall. It is through this tremendous work ethic demonstrated both by our students in challenge class and our student athletes that we are now able to say goodbye to:
-Sprained ankles and knees from trying to practice on a field that by some standards could be considered a miniature mountain range
Goodbye to:
-Paying to take buses to home games where most fans could not come to support the team
Goodbye to:
-Practicing corner kicks from 20 feet away from the net
Goodbye to:
-Having to go from a dead out sprint to hopping like a bunny rabbit so as not to slip on the pavement while wearing cleats.
Goodbye to:
- having to Mark out of bounds as when the soccer ball is stuck in a tree.
Goodbye to:
-Trying to have practice with 3 soccer teams at the same time on an undersized 50% dirt field
Goodbye to:
-Shin Splints from running track on a pavement parking lot
Goodbye to:
-Paying to have Track practice from 6:30 to 8:30 on a school night at Umass Lowell in order to be able to practice track…. well, on a track
Goodbye to:
-Dirt blinding the students during Challenge class
Goodbye to:
Challenge students having to run a quarter of a mile to retrieve a ball
Goodbye to:
-Balls flying into the street, or going under cars parked for dismissal
Goodbye to:
-Trying to fit baseball, softball, ultimate Frisbee, and track and field athletes, totaling 150 students on one small field and a parking lot all at once.
Goodbye to many of the obstacles that have faced us in the past and hello to the opportunity for all of our students to play and practice on a state of the art facility. Hello to now having the ability to invite others into our community and demonstrate to them the exemplary citizenship that Innovation Academy instills in all of its members both students and staff as well as family. This new track and field as well as practice facility gives all members of IACS the ability to continue to grow as well as the access for all to witness this growth."
"Over the past 5 years that I have worked at Innovation Academy I have seen the student body grow in size and in their commitment to excellence, both in academics and athletics. It is the hard work and dedication of the students and their families in addition to a visionary administration and supporting board of directors that has made this wonderful expansion possible.
For years the students at Innovation have been asked to participate in both challenge classes and competitive athletics on, to put it mildly, a substandard field. And they did so without complaint and with great success, from the boy’s middle school track team placing second in the state last season, to the boy’s high school soccer team having their first winning season in the fall of 2010, as well as the girls middle school soccer team winning their first playoff game and of course the middle school boy’s soccer team winning the EAA championship this past fall. It is through this tremendous work ethic demonstrated both by our students in challenge class and our student athletes that we are now able to say goodbye to:
-Sprained ankles and knees from trying to practice on a field that by some standards could be considered a miniature mountain range
Goodbye to:
-Paying to take buses to home games where most fans could not come to support the team
Goodbye to:
-Practicing corner kicks from 20 feet away from the net
Goodbye to:
-Having to go from a dead out sprint to hopping like a bunny rabbit so as not to slip on the pavement while wearing cleats.
Goodbye to:
- having to Mark out of bounds as when the soccer ball is stuck in a tree.
Goodbye to:
-Trying to have practice with 3 soccer teams at the same time on an undersized 50% dirt field
Goodbye to:
-Shin Splints from running track on a pavement parking lot
Goodbye to:
-Paying to have Track practice from 6:30 to 8:30 on a school night at Umass Lowell in order to be able to practice track…. well, on a track
Goodbye to:
-Dirt blinding the students during Challenge class
Goodbye to:
Challenge students having to run a quarter of a mile to retrieve a ball
Goodbye to:
-Balls flying into the street, or going under cars parked for dismissal
Goodbye to:
-Trying to fit baseball, softball, ultimate Frisbee, and track and field athletes, totaling 150 students on one small field and a parking lot all at once.
Goodbye to many of the obstacles that have faced us in the past and hello to the opportunity for all of our students to play and practice on a state of the art facility. Hello to now having the ability to invite others into our community and demonstrate to them the exemplary citizenship that Innovation Academy instills in all of its members both students and staff as well as family. This new track and field as well as practice facility gives all members of IACS the ability to continue to grow as well as the access for all to witness this growth."