“Sports are a great classroom for important learning.”
Everyone likes to win. But in the context of school sports, the wins and losses are only part of the true purpose of having sports associated with school (a very American thing). One shining example in our community is Academy at the Lakes (AATL), a small independent PK3 – 12th school takes its leader’s words to heart.
At AATL, Head of School Mark Heller feels, “Sports are a great classroom for important learning and students need not be high-level athletes in order to join a team and have the experience.” With a “no-cut” policy and that culture of broad participation, one might think that the losses would outpace the wins; however, that’s not the case at AATL. Stop by the campus any given day and you’ll see the trophies and banners in the gymnasium to prove it. What’s even more impressive is that AATL boasts an annual participation rate of 80 percent of the middle and high school students who join at least one of the school’s interscholastic athletic teams.