After forty years of coaching Salem swimming, Chuck Olson has decided to hang up his whistle and retire. This will be his last season coaching for the Salem girls swim and dive team. According to Salem athletic director Brian Samulski, Eric Lynn, who has helped coach for Salem in the past, will take Olson’s place as head coach for the upcoming boys’ season.
Olson’s swimming career began in 1957 when he joined the Plymouth Mayflower Swim Club; he began coaching for Salem 10 years after leaving the team. Overall, Olson claims his favorite part of coaching has been the connections he has made to those he’s taught.
As Olson’s coaching career comes to a close, many swimmers are reminiscing on the good times they’ve shared with him. Molly Rowe, Salem junior, says her favorite memory of Olson happened at states last year when she got her best time in an event and could tell how proud he was of her. Patricia Freitag fondly remembers last year’s Rotary Club barbeque when she and Olson had a corn-shucking contest.
Freitag, a Salem senior captain of the girls swim team, has been coached by Olson for the past five years. “When I heard Olson was retiring I was really sad,” said Freitag, “he’s always been a really big part of the team and I feel sorry for future members who won’t get to work with him.”
When asked why he decided to retire, Olson replied by pointing at his greying hair and laughing. As for his plans after he finishes this last season of coaching, which will end in November, he said he would like to “see some place where it’s warm in the winter.”
Swimming has been a part of Olson’s life for 58 years, and he doesn't plan on his involvement in the sport ending with his retirement. He intends to remain a board member of both the Michigan High School Coaches Association and the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association even after his retirement.
Chuck Olson Dives Into Retirement
By: Maddy Hanton
Staff Writer
Salem swim coach Olson (left) and Plymouth coach Forbes (right) watching during a meet.
Courtesy of Plymouth Athletics
NEWS
Friday, October 16, 2015
The PCCS Board of Education passed a budget that most students were unaware of late last year heading into summer break, cutting funding from many highly valued programs among Park students. What was most controversial about the budget cuts over the summer however, were how the board continued funding improvements to athletic and technology related propositions. While the board did raise the pay to participate rates quite significantly for athletes to generate more income in the latest budget, the school board cut from arts related programs such as the Theater program, National Honors Society, Student Congress, among others. There were also cuts to security at both the Park and Starkweather, and counseling, as well as the yearly teacher cuts that had some teachers with lower seniority throughout the district worried for their jobs.
Despite all this, however, the school board approved a plan to allow for many upgrades to the varsity football field by Canton High School, including new speakers, an upgraded scoreboard, and a redesigned field. Many students were left wondering why athletics always seems to be the first thing the district seems to support, despite the raising of the pay to participate rates. This is because athletics generally bring in the most amount of money for the district, and promote the district in a positive light, attracting school of choice students to the district.
The school board did have many difficult decisions to make regarding the budget this year, as income took a multi-million dollar drop off for this coming year. While every cut is difficult, the school board ultimately believes they did what was best for the education of the Plymouth-Canton students for the coming school year.
P-CEP Budget Cut Decisions
By: Chris Robbins
Sports Editor
Real Reason for Time Extension
By: Natalie Hunt
Staff Writer
Students all around the Park seem to be buzzing about a recent change made to our schedule. Everyone is accustomed to starting school at 7:10 and getting out at 2:10, but this year a ten minute extension has been added to the schedule. The usual routine of students and teachers around the park has been interrupted and everyone is left wondering why exactly this change has been made.
There have been many rumors circulating around the park about the time extension. Canton senior, Savannah Byrd, said, “I don’t know the exact reason why it was added, but I believe it has something to do with all the snow days we had last year.”
After asking several other students around the park, the answer continued to remain the same. Everyone assumes it’s the horrible winter we had last year that has caused this time extension.
The answer from students is clear, but school officials have a different explanation. When asked why the time extension was added, Kim Villarosa, the principle of Salem, said, ”The time extension is a state requirement. Students have to be in school for a certain amount of time, but it definitely feels like longer than ten minutes at times.”
Regardless of the true reasoning behind the time extension, everyone can agree that an extra ten minutes can often feel like a lifetime. Right around 2:10, everyone begins to feel antsy and the alarm from last year goes off in our heads telling us it’s time to leave. However, belonging to one of the biggest school districts in Michigan, it’s easy to say this is just a small change we can all get through together.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Students seeking Salem homecoming dance tickets had firsthand experience with what looked something like a scene out of “Hunger Games,” the event’s theme.
“The main problem was that students weren’t in a single-file line and they kept spreading to the point where it was breaking the fire code, by blocking entrances,” said Dayna Lang, an English teacher in Salem whose classroom is next door to Derek Southwick, the Salem Congress Advisor.
Lang said Salem Principal Kim Villarosa and other teachers “held their arms out to lead students into a line, but many students refused to cooperate and that was when sales were shut down. That is why sales were held in the auditorium today, where you needed a numbered ticket and if you didn’t wait patiently in the single-file line, you were not sold a ticket.”
Lang also added that another problem was due to the early release of A-lunch students. None were left for C-lunch students. Many Salem seniors were also upset because they would not have tickets to their home school’s homecoming.
Canton junior Alia Jones said, “I think Canton’s Homecoming will attract a lot more people than it ever has because so many people were unable to get a Salem ticket. I don’t think Canton’s ticket sales will be as chaotic as Salem’s. However, if it was, it would definitely be another sight to see.”
Students took to tweeting about their experiences.
Elizabeth Walton, Plymouth Senior said via Twitter, “Seniors get tickets first, then Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen.”
Claire Heise, Salem Junior said via Twitter, “Student Congress should sell tickets online at 4:30 and cut them every day at 6:30.”
Hazzar Miri, Canton Freshman said via Twitter, “I have heard from my friends and cousins that Salem has the best homecoming and that it sells out every year. Almost everyone you know may be there, which makes it more fun.”
Salem Congress tweeted on Wednesday, “We do have a small number of Salem Homecoming tickets available. In an attempt to be as fair as we possibly can, we are going to make the remaining tickets available through a lottery for any students that sign up.” The Tweet contained a link to a Google Form Document, to be filled out by students. Salem Congress went on to say, “We know that there are a lot of upset people out there, and for that we are truly sorry….We did try our best to make things fair today, but we simply did not foresee what actually occurred. We appreciate all of the helpful feedback and constructive criticism that has been offered. We are taking those suggestions into consideration for the future.”
Praise was also given to the members of Salem Congress. Southwick said, “The Congress kids did their best to create an amazing event, and clearly they succeeded since so many of you want to be a part of it. All I can say is that I’m truly sorry if you did not get a ticket, and I truly hope that people still want to get a ticket through the lottery.” The response was also kept in theme, with an ending stating, “May the odds be ever in your favor”.
Homecoming or Going Home
By: Liz Perry
Sports Editor
Friday, October 16, 2015