Home > Learning Center > Einstein wears tennis shoes
Einstein wears tennis shoes
Mikal Minarich got used to studying in the car. Or in the van on the way to a ball game. Or in the hall before a test.
Whenever you couldn't find her on a ballfield, you'd find Minarich with a book, improving on her 4.8 GPA.
Minarich, who will graduate from River Forest as the Class of 2006 valedictorian, is an example of the evolution of the student sports participant from 'dumb jock' to 'astute athlete.'
"I think I put more into athletics, because it was two practices a day sometimes," said Minarich, a volleyball, softball and basketball player. "I had to study in the car all I could or study right before a test. ... It was a lot of late nights and a lot of homework in the van."
That type of multitasking has helped West Side runner Dominique Taylor.
"In college, I'm going to have to analyze things better," said Taylor, who graduates third in her class before going to Notre Dame on academic scholarships. "You have to know how far you are in front of an opponent. It all makes you think more."
Coaches agree that athletes with intelligence can make up for any missing athletic prowess.
"I don't know that being smart will help with being a good athlete," Chesterton softball coach LouAnn Hopson said. "But if in addition to being an athlete you're an intelligent kid, you'll probably develop a vision of the game that will be a plus."
Bishop Noll baseball coach Dave Griffin thinks that the competition in the class room drives academically inclined students to the field, regardless of their athletic prowess.
"The kids that athletically are a C and an A academically, they've already figured out what they want," Griffin said. "They're there for the competition."
"(Athletics) made me more competitive in the class room," said Taylor, who plans to study psychology and sociology in preparation for a pre-law degree. "It made me want to finish everything I started and work that much harder."
Studies have been conducted to determine the correlation between athletics and academics, or, if participation in sports can improve ability in the classroom.
Hopson, an elementary phy-ed teacher, participated in one such study, attempting to determine if physical activity helped stimulate the brain. By developing mirroring and memory analysis activities, she taught students reading at a lower level than their age and grade.
"Those that we were able to work with the entire school year, there were always two or three who showed significant improvement," Hopson said. "I think that for athletes, that natural athletic ability coupled with the academic ability and intelligence tend to go hand in hand."
The smart athletes say that participation in both can also help on and off the field.
"My analysis skills have helped me the most in playing athletics," said Chesterton's Katie Stahura, who graduates second in her class. "Academics have always come more easily to me than athletics. Honestly, I've had to work harder on the field or the court that in the class room. In that way athletics has helped me academically, because I know that academics won't always be easy.
"In playing sports, and having to work to earn a position as a player will help me work that hard in college."
BY HILLARY SMITH
Athletic Shoes | Running | Learning Center | Site Map | Links | Contact | Home
Copyright © 2007