15th Annual Sportsmanship Summit

The fifteenth annual Sportsmanship Summit took place at Gillette Stadium. We were held in the beautiful Fiedlity investments Clubhouse on November 21. Student Advisory Committee members arrived early and were given several jobs. Jason, Megan, and Aubree were the "greet team" and were responsible for showing the students, teachers, and award winners where to go. Donald, Mick, Nate, James and Nick were responsible for helping the students get some breakfast and find a seat in a quick and orderly fashion. Two of our own members of the Student Advisory Committe, Julia and Maria, were part of a group of stuents who won first prize for the 8th Annual MIAA Student Sportsmanship Essay/Multimedia Contest! Megan and James also submitted essays that were chosen to be finalists! The day began in a traditional sport way by the singing of the National Anthem. Everyone got pumped up with Harvey Alston's "Be the Best" speech. After the awards were presented, teachers and administrators were broken up by school name and sent off to their workshops. Students stayed in the main atrium. Speakers such as Dan Switchenko and Dan Nolan switched off from the group of adults and the group of students. Following the close of the workshops, all participants were brought back together. Then there were more awards for Sportsmanship and Community Service. Gillete provided all the participants with a delicious buffet style lunch. After lunch, the Closing General Session called "Tips fromt he Best" was held by Harvey Alston, Steve Burton (WBZ-TV Sports Anchor), Andre Tippett (Patriots Director of Community Affairs and a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame), and Dathleen Delaney-Smith (Harvard University Women's Basketball Coach). Bob Kraft made a guest appearance and gave the students a few words of wisdom. Our Nate chased him down for a handshake and was almost removed by security. All in all, it was a very exciting day!

Student Advisory Committee Member Megan wrote, "As usual, the Sportsmanship Summit was a great success. The turnout was fantastic, the speakers were thought-provoking, and the whole day was a very positive experience. I especially enjoyed Robert Kraft's visit as well as Andre Tippett's pieces of advice. Overall, I had a great time helping out and gaining wisdom from some of the most real and accomplished athletes and role models."

Student Advisory Committee Member Nate wrote, "The Sportsmanship Summit was great! It was so cool to see everyone again. I loved getting the chance to listen to Harvey again, his speeches honestly never get old. The day went very well and everyone attending seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was great to get a chance to listen to the winning essays and video of the contest. All in all this was another great experience with the student advisory crew, and not to mention I got to shake hands with Robert Kraft! It was great seeing everyone again and I can't wait untill the next time!"

Student Ambassador First Workshop

This first workshop took place at the MIAA Office in Franklin. Harvey Alston, the speaker who the Student Advisory Committee members saw at the conference in Indianapolis spoke for the opening and closing sessions of the event. As a member of the Student Advisory Committee, we networked with other Student Ambassadors about ideas that they have regarding the Student Ambassador Program. We helped one of the presenters, Deb Hult, during her workshop session. Everyone was assigned a contact person in a school or area near them so that we may create a better support system and be able to bounce ideas off of on another. We were given our first assignment; we were told to think of the most important issue in our school and to brainstorm how to change it. We were to check in with each other after about two weeks to see how each person is doing. Deb brought up the interesting point of, so we are Ambassadors.. so what? What legacy will we leave behind? An interesting concept that inspired several of us to jump-start and double our efforts.

Student Advisory Committee member Megan wrote, "The Leadership Workshop proved to be an intimate and productive meeting. Not many students attended; however this gave me the opportunity to get to know some of them better, while the atmosphere remained personal with the speakers. After attending this meeting, I feel that I have a better understanding of what my role is as a student ambassador, and I am more conscious of my influence on people as I strive to make it a positive one more and more each day."