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My adviser Malcolm Gibson
March 24, 2011 – 08:57pm
While youth wrestlers from across the state are preparing to hit the mats this weekend at the Kansas Expocentre, Topekans are gearing up for everyone else who plans to come, too.
Those involved with the Kansas Kids Wrestling Championships expect it to bring more than 7,500 people to the capital city.
H.R. Cook, general manager of the Expocentre, said the importance of the event extends beyond the actual venue.
“It’s a really, really big deal, because it’s not only the Expo that hosts the event but the entire community,” Cook said.
From city officials to Visit Topeka Inc., to those in the restaurant and lodging industries, a lot of people in Topeka are preparing for the influx of out-of-town parents, aunts and uncles, siblings and grandparents who will be at Landon Arena on Saturday and Sunday to watch about 1,500 wrestlers compete.
The wrestling championships occur annually in March, drawing participants of varying ages and sizes from every district in the state.
Mayor Bill Bunten said the event allows people to get together in the capital city and take advantage of what Topeka has to offer.
“For us, it’s a weekend when people stay here, eat here and shop here,” Bunten said. “It’s a fun event, and economically, it brings a great number of people to our city.”
Olivia Simmons, president and chief executive officer of Visit Topeka, said the overall economic impact of the event is huge.
Simmons said a conservative estimate of the revenue garnered from the event is $1.47 million.
The wrestling championships are the second-largest event in terms of revenue behind NHRA drag racing at Heartland Park Topeka.
Dena Soden, director of sales for Capitol Plaza Hotel, 1717 S.W. Topeka Blvd, said the hotel is completely booked tonight and Saturday night.
Soden said the hotel typically sells out a year before the championships.
Topeka has hosted this event for more than 15 years, continuously outbidding other cities for the contract.
In 2009, Topeka outbid Salina, Hays, Hutchinson and Wichita to retain the event under the current three-year contract, which expires in 2012.
The bidding process for the next host city will begin in the fall. Next March could be the last year the event is in Topeka as the competition gets tougher with new, larger arenas popping up across the state.
But Cook said it is because of the open arms of the citizens, not the arena, that Topeka has been able to retain this event for so long.
Simmons agrees.
“It’s that hospitality and that personal touch that you can’t put a price tag on,” Simmons said. “And that’s what we need from our community to help bring this event back year after year.”
Weigh-in for the wrestlers starts this evening. The opening ceremony and competitions commence Saturday morning.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Fort Scott Orchestra teacher Cody Toll was recently awarded the Kansas American String Teacher’s Association Young Teacher of the Year award in Wichita, Kan.The annual award is given to a new member of the string teaching profession in recognition of “meritorious service and outstanding promise in string and orchestra education.” Stipulations state that the winner must have completed from one to seven years of string teaching and demonstrate dedication to the profession and involvement in professional activities.
Pittsburg State University Associate Professor and Director of Orchestras Selim Giray nominated the young professional who is in just his second year of teaching.
Giray, who first met Toll at a local concert, said his dedication to his music and his students is obvious.
“You can tell he really cares for what he does and for his students,” Giray said. “He has proven that in such a short time. Everybody is extremely impressed with his ability to lead the ensemble and relate to his students.”
Toll’s current position with USD 234 is the 24-year-old Kansas State University graduate’s first job. He replaced longtime teacher Jane Williams, who led the program for more than 20 years.
“It is a really difficult job to start a program,” Giray said. “It is equally, if not more difficult, to take a position that a legendary person like Jane Williams has been leading. That’s one of the reasons we are impressed because he has done such a marvelous job of living up to and exceeding those expectations.”
Williams said she couldn’t say enough nice things about Toll, adding he has the youth and energy students need. The award is fitting because it recognizes that, she said.
“I think it is well deserved, and it’s such a nice recognition from the state at such an early age,” Williams said. “They recognize his talent and teaching abilities.”
She said she can “really see the continuity” of the program under Toll’s instruction.
“I can now rest easy knowing the future of the program is secure,” Williams said.
Toll taught violin and viola lessons privately until 2003 and has been composing and arranging since 2004, according to his biography on the KASTA website. In addition to the Young Teacher of the Year Award, Toll was nominated for the Kansas Horizon Award for teachers showing exceptional quality in their first year.
Of his awards, Toll said he was honored — even more so when he won.
“I think the arts are a really important part of our society and our culture, and oftentimes they can be overlooked,” Toll said. “It’s encouraging to see that recognized, but I am most rewarded when I see the kids being enthusiastic about music.”
The first year of teaching for Toll was like “stumbling blindly” about, but his second year has been “a lot easier.” He composes and arranges pieces for his students, focusing on well-known songs or “things they know and enjoy hearing.”
“I’m having more of a relationship with the kids now,” Toll said.” They know me, and I know them. I think I’ve earned their trust. It is kind of a unique thing.”
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tom Davis, intramural director at Fort Scott Middle School and one of five members of the intramural sports committee formed after the January board meeting, spent a little under an hour presenting the committee’s recommendation to trustees regarding introducing interscholastic sports to middle school athletics.
“It was not a simple task and there are some weaknesses,” Davis said of the recommendation. “We wanted to look at what was best for students, parents and the community.”
After carefully considering the recommendation and budget concerns, a motion was made to approve the committee’s recommendation. Only after all votes were in did it become apparent the recommendation wouldn’t get the four votes it needed to go into effect during the 2012-2013 school year. So as of now, no FSMS sports will become interscholastic during the 2012-2013 school year.
The committee’s recommendation was for sixth and seventh-grade athletics to keep intramural sports but for eighth-grade athletics to become interscholastic, enabling them to play other schools. The recommendation did not cut any programs, but would cost the district an additional $7,500 out of the general fund.
Board members biggest reservations regarding the recommendation were budget related.
“There is just a little bit of wiggle room in the budget so that we could provide for interscholastic at the eighth-grade level this year,” Business Manager Tiffany Forester said. “But I don’t know about next year or the year after.”
As of last night, school board members have yet to set fees for the 2012-2013 school year.
School Board President Janet Braun said they are waiting to hear what the state legislature will do with education funding. With that in mind, board members said they are not comfortable taking $7,500 out of a budget that is not set.
“I’m struggling with the money,” board member Justin Meeks said. “We have the money to do this, but would it hinder us (from) doing other things?”
Although school board members denied the middle school athletic committee’s recommendation, the panel approved a motion to reconsider the recommendation for the 2013-2014 school year, pending funding.
Board members said the motion emphasizes their support, just not right now, due to funding.
In other business:
* The board approved employment and leave of absence requests for the following: Employment of Morgan Ratliff as the high school assistant softball coach; the employment of Allison Gorman as the middle school boys and girls’ tennis coach; a leave of absence request from Connie Niel, a Eugene Ware teacher; and the transfer of Amy Lybarger from her math and language arts position at FSMS to sixth-grade language arts and social studies for the 2012-2013 school year.
* Heard information about the April 20 Wellness Fair. Superintendent Rick Werling said health care professionals, including a pharmacist and a dietitian, will be present.
Werling said the fair will also feature healthy eating testing, stress and money management advice, as well as other fitness related activities, including Zumba.
* Update on the superintendent search: Forester said the interview dates for the applicants have been established as well as any other accommodations that need to be made for applicants and their spouses.
Following the recommendation of Doug Moeckel of the Kansas Association of School Boards, who will be leading the search, the school board sent formal invitations for community members to attend March 15 focus groups that will discuss desirable characteristics for the new superintendent.
“The process is moving,” Braun said. “That’s what were saying.”
Angelique McNaughton 