CARLTON FLETCHER: Benefits of school activities not measured in dollars

Be true to your school … rah, rah, rah, rah sis-boom-bah.

— The Beach Boys

I got into a discussion the other day with a group of folks who were debating the merits of athletics, music programs and other extracurricular activities in our schools. Most involved in the discussion were of a mind that the cost of these activities — football and band uniforms, travel expenses, etc. — wasn’t particularly worth the benefits. Some were in favor of, at minimum, curtailing athletics and other activities.

Elimination was also a popular option.

Being involved in that discussion made me think of a guy I know. I told them his story.

The guy came from a poor family, one with a solid, old-school American work ethic. You work for the money that anyone pays you, and you take care of your own.

This guy’s parents were salt-of-the-earth kind of folks. Both came from very large rural families, and both came up having to help those large families eke out a living. Forget extracurricular activities, school was actually a luxury. So much so, in fact, neither of this guy’s parents even attended high school before they were forced to go to work.

They married at a young age, had a family, and tried to pass their values down to their kids.

Coming up, the guy did fine in school. Actually, better than fine. He and his siblings were regularly among the top-performing academic students in their classes. But, for whatever reason — probably because he idolized his dad — this guy decided at around age 12 that he wanted to drop out.

When the guy told his father his ambition, his father merely said, “You have to go to school at least until you’re 16.” So the guy bided his time, waiting for the day that he would reach that magical age.

Now this guy inherited his father’s love for sports, and he played all of them, proving somewhat talented in football and baseball. He planned to try out for his high school teams and play as long as he could … at least until he turned 16.

When the guy reached age 15, he got a taste of varsity sports, making his high school baseball team as a freshman and being tabbed by coaches of the school’s football team as a possible starter when he entered his sophomore year. But in the summer before that fateful second year of high school, this guy approached his father again with his plans.

“You told me I had to wait until I’m 16 to drop out of school,” the guy said to his dad. “I’ll be there soon.”

The guy’s father pondered his son’s query for a few beats, then offered his son the words he wanted to hear: “If you really want to quit school when you’re 16, I won’t stop you,” the father said. “But you know you’ll have to get a job.”

The guy replied excitedly, “Great! I’ll start asking around now. Then, when I quit school, I’ll be ready to go to work.”

The guy’s father thought about his son’s comments for a bit, then said to him, “You know that when you quit school, you won’t get to play baseball or football anymore.”

The guy stopped in his tracks, the weight of his father’s words hitting him. He considered those words and quietly walked away.

That fall, the start of his sophomore year of high school, the guy did well in football. Despite his relatively small size, he played quite a bit. By the end of the year, just before his 16th birthday, he was elevated to his team’s starting defense. Two late-season interceptions — that went with two more earlier in the year — had coaches projecting him to be a team leader for the next two years.

When the guy’s 16th birthday rolled around, he didn’t drop out of school. He was already involved in baseball practice, and he became a starter on what proved to be a very good team.

The others who had been advocating for the elimination or curtailing of high school athletics and activities at least considered the story of that guy as they wound down their discussion. I told them, “If a school activity — in this case high school football and baseball — can keep just one or two or five or 25 students in school, it’s worth it.”

Oh, and that guy. He did OK. He had a pretty wonderful high school career, graduating with honors, and he’s lived a pretty adventure-filled life. He’s tried — with a great deal of success — to pass the work ethic that his father instilled in him on to his children. And today he writes for a mid-size daily newspaper, doing a job he loves.

It’s a job he never would have had had high school sports not kept him in school.