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Canton man wonders what matters more: policy or great people?

Posted 5/5/15

To the Editor: For some time, an effort has been underway to request that the track at Potsdam Central School be named in honor of coach William “Bill” Lewis. Naming any facility in honor of …

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Canton man wonders what matters more: policy or great people?

Posted

To the Editor:

For some time, an effort has been underway to request that the track at Potsdam Central School be named in honor of coach William “Bill” Lewis. Naming any facility in honor of anyone is always a significant act and should not be undertaken lightly. Further, almost any person who has worked in the public arena, has both supports and detractors. The task before the Potsdam Central School Board of Education is a major one. This effort in the area of naming is far from the most important issue he board faces.

There are many people who can build and support the case for naming the track in coach Lewis’ honor. The most eloquent spokespersons come from the community, his church and civic involvement, the Lions Club, parents and students who he served, his teaching and coaching colleagues among others. The most persuasive supporters of this effort are his former track and cross country team members.

The North Country has many exceptional educators and some extraordinary musical, artistic, FFA, vocational, and academic success stories. Additionally, there have been some outstanding examples of athletic success. Go to any school, go to any diner in any town and here stories about the great teams, coaches, athletes, seasons, the big game, the surprising upset and so on. Every community has a wonderful history.

For a period of time, a long period of time, Potsdam Central School was the beacon of excellence in track and field. In fact, no other team in the history of North County track and field has had the success that Potsdam had under the guidance of coach Lewis. No team. Additionally, no team in any sport in the North Country had as much success as did the teams which competed for coach Lewis. The history from that era is quite astonishing and it is east to overlook because it is from forty or fifty years ago. That is not a reason to overlook that success but it is understandable. Also, many of the stellar student athletes of that era have gone on to great success elsewhere and are not here in the North Country to constantly celebrate the excellence of those teams.

One significant contemporary number stands out: Coach Lewis continued to assist in coaching and working with student athletes up until 2013. This is a remarkable career of over fifty years.

One only needs to looks at the records from those years or look at the archives of old newspapers, or look at the membership roll of the Potsdam Central School Athletic Hall of Fame to see what those teams accomplished. Their success had never occurred before their time and likely will have happen again.

Success on the athletic field is one thing. Success in life is quite a different issue. Coach Lewis helped teams win championships. More important, he helped his athletes become exceptional people who are now changing and positively affecting lives in two more generations. As part of the effort to have the track named in coach Lewis’s honor, letters have been written in support of this project. The letters have gone to the PCS board. I have had the pleasure of reading many of them. They describe virtually every quality a parent would want their child to acquire, to learn from a teach or a coach. Hard work, loyalty, belief in one’s self, supporting teammates and opponents, fair play, sportsmanship, giving one’s all, learning from mistakes, never settling for a mediocre effort, constant learning and improvement, encouragement, healthy living, saying and doing the right thing, listening, respect and more.

Bill Lewis coached track athletes but he taught life lessons. He did his work as well as any educator in any classroom ever did. His classroom happened to be the track.

The board of education has been respectfully asked to dedicate the track to coach Lewis’ name.

This is an opportunity for the people of Potsdam, the people who know coach Lewis, who competed with, for, or even against him, to weigh in and support this idea.

Further, this is an opportunity for the board, in these challenging times, to stand up and represent, in a public way, what all good educators represent. This is an opportunity to stand, should to should, in solidarity, with students, athletes, parents, and community members to support this effort and stand for and with this exceptional man and his legacy.

The board of education have policies and protocols and they must have them. Without them, chaos results. Policies are important. They are there for purpose and exist to assist people, to represent the needs of the people. Policies which stand in the way of good service to others should be changed. If a policy stands in the way of dedicating the track to coach Lewis then that policy is not a good one and I would ask what matter more: Policy or great people?

There will be a public meeting of the board of education in the Potsdam Central School cafeteria on May 12 at 7 p.m. If you feel you would like to be heard on this issue, please come to that meeting and have your opinion heard.

Lawrence Casey

Canton