TJ receives grant to improve extracurricular activities and ultimately academics.
Photo by Mia Nogueira
The Timothy and Bernadette Marquez Foundation has kindly granted DPS the resources to have a full time Athletic Director and Activities Coordinator at each high school, beginning this 2010-2011 school year in the hopes of improving test scores, attendance, and the graduation rate.
Taking on the challenge here at TJ, Lani Nobles is now the full time Athletic Director and Activities Coordinator and is responsible for athletics, clubs, and all other extracurricular activities. “That’s the new thing on my plate that I’m very excited for,” said Nobles.
In recent years, Nobles (like most Athletic Directors in the district) has been both the Athletic Director here at TJ as well as an Assistant Principal. She has carried out duties such as handling behavioral issues and teacher evaluations along with her athletic duties. This grant allows for her to relinquish most of her former duties as Assistant Principal and take on her role as Athletic Director full time. Nobles has mixed feelings towards letting her position go, although she is still an assistant principal. “I also liked doing discipline and getting a chance to help students understand they have opportunities everyday to make good decisions. It is really a highlight for me when I see kids succeed after making some not so good choices. But, having the time to dedicate to student engagement will be extremely rewarding as well.”
TJ has hired a new Assistant Principal, Mike Christoff, to take on Nobles’ other duties. Christoff previously taught at Morey Middle School. He will help with discipline, evaluating and supporting administration, teachers, and students, and maintaining test scores (CSAP, ACT, etc.).
The funding was given on the basis of a U.S. Department of Education study findings that concluded students who participate in sports or extracurricular activities are more motivated to come to school and have better overall GPAs. The goal of the grant is to help students to be academically driven because of a sport or activity. “I have not only seen hundreds and hundreds of cases of student athletes whose lives have changed dramatically because they are motivated by coaches and sports to excel in school, but I am a product of participating in sports, and it changed my life,” says Nobles.
The three million dollar DPS grant aims towards 90% participation in at least one activity or sport from this year’s freshmen, and 90% participation in extracurricular activities school-wide by the 2013-2014 school year. The grant will be in place for three years district-wide. “I think it is a challenging goal, but I like challenges and it is important to get ALL kids involved in school activities to motivate them to provide a richer educational experience so that they can be more successful in college and on to a career,” says Nobles.
Funding from the grant not only allows for a full time Athletic Director, but will be available to students who meet certain requirements, such as qualifying for the reduced or free lunch program, as scholarship money towards athletic fees, to hire new coaches, and to purchase new equipment. This funding has more than doubled TJ’s previous athletic budgets. “Having this funding will boost TJ’s college-bound expectations by linking TJ’s tradition of sports and activities to academic success in college,” said Nobles.
Nobles is particularly excited to become TJ’s Athletic Director to help students reach their full potential and really make a difference. “I get to do something that I love and that I’m motivated to do. I feel like I have a new opportunity to really facilitate positive change. I have the time and resources I need to make a difference,” she said. “This job was made for me.”
The grant also provides the funds for TJ to expand its extracurricular activities, and one of the new clubs that has been added so far is the Film Club with Derek Steffes and Kirk Hammond. Students with new ideas for clubs or sports are encouraged to propose them to Nobles, via email or just paying her a visit in her office. Nobles said she is eager to begin her new duties and to bring change to TJ. “I’m just ecstatic. I truly am.”
