Sports Illustrated just selected Punahou as the top athletic program in the Nation. According to the Sports Illustrated it chose Punahou on numerous characteristics of the whole school and not just the winning tradition. If you had looked at all the HHSAA titles this season the ILH dominated winning probably 75-80% of all the sports titles. Punahou won numerous titles this year including the Girls & Boys Basketball, Baseball, Judo, Water polo, Swimming, Tennis, and others.
Now there are pundits out there that hate private schools and never will change their biases no matter what. But props have to be handed out to Punahou for their excellence in the classroom and on the field. This selection does Hawaii good. It also sends out a message to all student athletes in Hawaii that academics are important.
Punahou excels because their whole process and system is set up for competition. Competition is evident in the whole process from the application process, being accepted to making the intermediate sports team, to scoring the highest in AP classes. There is always competition. Competition to get better during the summer and off season. Committing and sacrificing to fundraisers, field and facility maintenance, summer school. In fact the competition to make the team is fierce. To make the starting team is even fiercer. This competition breeds success and most of the students are self motivated and high achievers. The coaches get involved in the off season and interact and get to know the players all year round. The coaches pay attention to who is doing what and where. When it comes to season time they know who has been working out and rewards that with opportunities.
Some public schools don’t do this; in fact many public schools don’t know who has done what and who has been working hard. Many coaches have to work on basic fundamentals to make sure the ones who did not work out can catch up to the advanced and skilled players. Is this fair to the advanced players? The whole public school system is geared to provide equal opportunities for everyone. As long as the starting line is the same that is fine.
The public school system can not compete with private schools like Punahou and Iolani. The whole public school system is set up for mediocrity. Because the public schools have more of a broad range of students. The good athletes and academic students get somewhat lost in the shuffle. Is it time to start rewarding excellence and hard work versus spending time and resources on trying to adjust the starting line so it is fair for the ones who don’t work hard. Public schools have their hands tied but coaches and educators need to find creative ways in rewarding and motivating excellence. This feel good story has to have a message to our public school board and possibly to our Senators and Representatives. We have to bring back a competitive school environment to better prepare Hawaii's youth. Lowering the bar and standards to hide slackers won't help. There is a lot of talent at public schools that don't go to private schools and yet succeed, yet there is a lot of talent that is squandered due to the non competitive environment. Let's learn from what Punahou is doing and Kudos to the Punahou model.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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5 comments:
Punahou recruits a lot of players. Public schools are still a good place for school
Eh.. Good for Hawaii, but I would rather see a public school instead. But you can't knock them down. But in the 80' and 90's they were not that dominating.
Uke man
I agree with your comments, but do you think that Punahou stresses too much on academics? I know Mosi Tatupu would not pass today's entry exam.
There is politics now at Punahou. They recruit enough to fill gaps. For the most part, they have enough families who are economically doing good to provide that talent. However, those alumnist and families who have supported the school with working the carnivals, etc... will have their interests protected. They protect this with entry test that is extremely high. Most average high school students would not pass this heavy advanced math and reading test. It is not because the public school kids are not smart, it's because they have not been introduced to this curriculum skills. They should base their test on thinking skills and ability to learn. I wonder if the football talent they recruit has a much lower bar. This is one sport where they have problems filling gaps. Not enough lineman from their enrollment, but it would be interesting to see those scores of these players or they go after lineman harder than most sports...
hmm.........
St Louis Grad
Punahou,
a work in progress. Tell them to clean and gut a fish or pig. Ohhh. that is going to break my nail and stink up my Beamer... But I can read you the periodic table or the constitution.... Get the dishwasher ready honey moolah money is coming....
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