Ultimate success in only five short years

Sam Clark

01/17/2018

Many very successful sports programs have had to serve their time suffering through heartache and pain while trying to reach their ultimate championship goals. However, the Boyle County Boys Bowling team found their way to the top of the mountain at a speed they didn’t anticipate.

In the five short years of the program’s existence, the team has already won three regional championships and last year a state championship.

In its infancy, many young bowlers joined the program for fun. Junior William Rayens, an inaugural team member since his seventh grade year recalls, “When we started out on the team, we didn’t think we were going to get very far honestly.”

Expectations certainly evolved quickly. Boyle County alumnus and football state champion Zach Cooley has led the boys team since its inception. “We were fortunate enough at the beginning to have several kids that bowled prior. When we came up with (the idea of) a bowling team, we kind of were a leg up (on others) because we had some individuals that had some bowling talent.”

“We had several other kids that came along and saw the bowlers that were already here and wanted to form a bowling game like them. The ones who had bowling experience set the bar for what we wanted from individuals. A lot of kids saw that and grew into that mold.”

Senior anchor Isaiah King quickly fit into the mold his coach wanted. “I was super shy that first year when me and Daniel were 8th graders. We just kind of got thrown to the wolves, you could say, when we started bowling varsity. I was intimidated by the older guys, but Addison Coffey (2015 graduate) kind of took me under his wing as he was a huge help.”

“I’ve kind of been forced into that leadership role over the past few years and I think I’ve taken it well. I certainly enjoy it.”

Previous leadership from Coffey as well as 300 bowlers Cameron Walker and Jonathan Stevens has motivated today’s players to put in the extra hours necessary to be great. Cooley explains, “We have had a lot of kids that have put in a lot of time and effort. Bowling season starts in October and ends in February. We’ve got a lot of kids that do this year round. If we get done in the middle of February, the next day we’ve got kids that are in here chomping at the bit ready to get started for next year.”

There is no denying player buy in for improvement. Both Rayens and junior Luke Morris agreed that they probably spend between ten and twelve hours a week at the lanes. Rayens’ hard work has paid off individually. “I’ve improved definitely over 100 pins since I started. I’m now averaging above 200. I’m really a force to be reckoned with.”

Confidence and trust in each other have been essential elements of the program’s success. Senior Daniel Montgomery agrees. “It’s really special. I just have to try to work for the team and be part of it one more time. This year means a lot to me right now, being able to work together with these guys one last time.”

The players’ trust in the coaches is also immeasurable. Junior Luke Morris explains, “They talk to you, they explain stuff to you. They really help you out a lot when you ask for it, and even when you don’t ask for it but need it. They are really good about explaining it and getting it into your head what you need to do.”

The Rolling Rebels have gained momentum throughout the season and are now poised to reach the mountain’s summit for a second time. King cannot wait to get started. “I honestly think this year we are bowling better as a team than we did last year, which is pretty crazy given that we lost Walker who was one of the best bowlers in Kentucky high school history. I feel like our chances to win are just as good as last year’s.”

Social studies initiative prompts civic action

Danielle Roney and Rebecca Tarter create an infographic about the proposed Kentucky Teacher Pension Plan. You can read more about their findings at https://www.smore.com/fn0qzhow-the- teacher-pension- affects-you

By Mia Kendrick

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Our conscience directs our daily decisions, with some carrying more weight than others. However, when your conscience incessantly dwells on a particular cause, and within you the importance is felt, that is when the time has come to take a position.

Learning how to take a stand, seniors in Ryan New’s Advanced Placement (AP) Government class are developing and initiating plans of action. The class is giving students tools they can utilize to become well informed, active citizens.

To practice, individuals choose an important cause to research and then develop an appropriate plan of action. This initiative by the National Council for the Social Studies is called “Taking Informed Action” (TIA).

AP student Delaney Simpson commented, “It takes education to an entirely different level. Students choose topics that are important to them, do research on those topics, and then take positive action on them. Instead of just volunteering, students can invest themselves into a project by learning about the reasons why their actions are important.”

The goal of TIA is to encourage students to become active citizens in their community. Doing so stems from the personal responsibility to impact others in a positive way.

One student who really appreciates the opportunity to construct her own TIA is Summer Allahham. “TIAs not only benefit our knowledge, but other people’s knowledge as we take action in our education. TIAs teach us to question ourselves, research and understand what needs to be done, and then we go do what we need and work with

others.”

As an example of a collaborative TIA, Danielle Roney and Rebecca Tarter created an infographic about proposed Kentucky Teacher Pension Plan.

Roney explains, “My mom is a teacher so it impacts me directly, and after spending a lot of nights talking to her about it I got pretty fired up. So, I talked to Bec about it and we realized that it is such a hard topic to understand and many people do not know all the details.”

Tarter added, “We found it important to make a point that the teacher pension is not only going to affect teachers, but the lives of children and the community as a whole in the future.”

To better understand the pension proposal, Roney and Tarter interviewed several high school teachers and spent hours researching online. They decided that a digital poster would be the most effective way to spread knowledge through the social media platforms of Facebook and Twitter to secondary and post-secondary students.

Reflecting on the process of creating this poster, Roney shared, “It is a very hard topic to comprehend. When we put all the information on it, it was very long and intimidating. Bec pointed out the fact that most people would not take the time to read it all, so we had to find a way to condense it to not be so intimidating.”

Although this TIA was well thought out and meticulously planned, Roney and Tarter struggled with drawing attention to their project. “Getting it out there has also been kind of difficult. We wanted it to reach everybody, but getting retweets on twitter and shares on facebook has been harder than I thought it would be.”

One must keep in mind that a successful TIA is not defined by the way it follows the plan. The success comes from the generated knowledge and from the attempt to make a difference.

But the true victory is when you ultimately decide to take the risk to follow your conscience.