biggest win of the year!

Since wrestling kicked off, I have not had a lot of free time and have neglected to post lately. While reflecting on how the wrestling season has gone thus far, I realized there is a lot to share. Though the varsity is wrestling well and our squad is currently ranked 2nd in state, I would rather share results from a C team exhibition match that was wrestled last Friday night at our home dual with Auburn HS. One of our 11th grade wresters earned his 1st win by pin Friday night vs AHS. Though this young man has been wrestling for Tahoma since the 8th grade, the sport has not come easy for him. This young man has many learning disabilities that have made aspects of both school and sports tough, yet he has stuck with our wrestling team and his persistence paid off in a big way last Friday night. As I watched our wrestler work his best series and eventual find a way to pin his opponent, I was filled with pride as I watched his team mates gather around the mat to cheer wildly and chant his name. The THS wrestling team knew how special this match was and they cheered and hollered as if it were the state finals! When the match was done and the Tahoma wrestler’s hand was raised and the crowd erupted one more time. The mighty Bear grappler rushed the jr varsity team and coach to slap hands and celebrate the awesome victory. Then, when he saw me off to the side with an extend hand for a shake and a congrats, he rushed forward and pushed my hand aside so he could throw his arms around me for a big bear hug and hollowed in my ear, “I’m all in coach, I’m all in now!” As I returned the hug and let him know how proud I was of him I realized that though I have been fixated on trying to help the varsity win state this year, I needed to bring my focus back to facilitating a program that allows all wrestlers to feel that they are “all in”. Last year the same young man that won the big match Friday night told me he was thinking about quitting because he was not any good and would never win. He went on to explain that he was not sure he was “all in with this wrestling thing”. Fortunately some of the upperclassman talked him into finishing the season and coming back out this year.


Recently I have found myself so caught up in thinking about how to push the varsity wrestles conditioning to the next level while improving our hand fighting and bottom position, that I forgot what the most important part of my job really is. I need to make sure that I am leading a program that allows all my boys to feel confident, successful and most importantly “all in”.

Tahoma Style wr 2009

 Day 1 wrestling power pointon "Tahoma Style Wrestling"

Our first day was excellent. We had 67 wrestlers cleared and on the mat today with 7 or 8 more expected to be cleared by mid week. I have not had a squad this large yet and I am excited about the great turnout! I have an outstanding coaching staff of 8 ready to support and teach our athletes this year as we work toward shared and individual goals. It is going to be an exciting year. Go Bears!

Tahoma Style wr 2009

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Identity And Expectations

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Identity And Expectations

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Energized

Last week was busy but productive. Besides doing final prep to get grades submitted on time, I also had several meetings with staff and students that kept me on the move. One of the indicators of a good week for me is when the meetings I attend leave feeling energized rather than drained come Friday; it was a good week.

I was energized by a pre season wrestling meeting I had with the 9th grade on Thursday. I have met with the jr high wrestlers each year before the start of the high school season for the past 7 years, but I have never had such an excellent turn out. There are a larger number than usual of athletic freshman turning out his year! There were over 25 9th graders at the meeting that had wrestled with one of the two middle school teams and there were 45 kids total in attendance! I expect at least 30 of the frosh to turn out and join a senior loaded team that is ready to. THS wrestling team will have large numbers this year.

I love the fact that there are two middle school programs feeding our high school team this year. This is the third year of a multiple middle school sports team system and the Sr. High wrestling team is seeing the positive effect in the number of kids participating and connecting through school sports programs. I do not think I could not work for a district that did not support extracurricular activities. The money and time we invest in opportunities for students to make connections through after school activities are an educational asset and I am sorry other school systems that do not recognize and value extracurricular activities. I was sad to learn that there are many school districts that do not offer athletics and other extracurricular activities at the middle school level. I was also shocked to learn that many school districts have considered cutting all extracurricular activities as a way to balance the budget during tough times. There was a recent report on HBO’s “Real Sports” that documented the effect on a community after the town voted to cut all extracurricular activities for a large school district in Ohio. It was strange to watch as the reporter toured vacant gyms and fields. I tried to image how it would affect Maple Valley if we had to cut all extracurricular activities and it made me sad. It is a hypothetical situation I do not like to think about.

I also felt energized after meeting with a group of educators and students that were visiting our district this week. Student from Black Hills HS in Olympia along with administrators and students from a school district in New York visited THS. The visiting group was also escorted by a program supervisor form the Washington OSPI. The group wads visiting THS to look at some of our classes and also talk with our staff and students about the work we are doing related to student engagement and school culture improvement. I enjoyed listening to the young leaders from other schools as they explained their learning community goals and work. I also was interested in what Greg Williamson, the program supervisors from OSPI, had to say regarding developing sustainable school programs related to a systems level approach. I had a chance to share with the group what the THS learning community has been doing this year in regards to our One School initiative work. I have received a lot of positive feed back from both staff and students at THS regarding our One School work this year thus far and I was happy to share what we have been doing with the visitors. Below is a power point activity that was recently shared with the staff at our last staff meeting. Next week I will share the power point with the student council and asb board while engaging the students in activities and conversation to help the students prepare to lead discussions with in their advisory groups regarding the schools One School winter commitments.

Go Bears!
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

11 5 Slide Show One School

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Dan"The Man" Russell's visits THS and shares more than just wrestling

This past weekend I was fortunate to host one of my personal heroes at my home. Coach Dan Russell visited Maple Valley last weekend to put on a clinic for our wrestlers and help prepare several of my boys for the pre season nationals in Iowa this Saturday. For those of you that don’t know coach Russell I should probably give a brief bio. Besides being a man of faith and pastor of the Four Square Church in Battle Ground Washington, he was a 4X NCAA national Champion for Portland State, Greco Roman World Champion, Olympian, and currently on staff with the USA wrestling national team. Additionally, he is one of the most gifted and animated clinicians in the country and I love watching him work. One of my goals as a coach in our community is to expose our athletes to national and world level coaches. I love the fact that our middle school and high school wrestlers in Maple Valley had the opportunity to not only learn wrestling moves from this world class clinician, but to listen to his stories about believing in your dreams and how to motivate yourself in during tough times. Dan tells great stories about his youth, college and international wrestling career and the tales always comes back to two essential questions that Dan thinks all athletes have to ask themselves: “Have I given my best effort in preparation for this competition and am I ready to go out there and do my best?” According to Dan, if you can answer yes to both questions you have already won and you are already a champion. I love the message related to the questions and one of my program goals this year is to get all coaches in the Maple Valley wrestling community to share the message and questions with our wrestlers. I want our wrestlers to not only take Dan's questions and use them to help prepare for there athletics, but for their challenges and competions off the mat as they prepare for life outside of school.


Though I have seen Dan put on clinics before, I have not had an opportunity to visit and converse with him until last Friday night. After sharing a meal with my family, we sat in the kitchen and shared wrestling and coaching stories for a while. Our conversation started by discussing the upcoming wrestling season and how tough THS wrestling is going to be. Coach Russell follows 4A wrestling in our state closely and wanted to discuss the process that the THS wrestling program has gone through over the past 6 years to be in a position to contend for a state title this year. One of the first things I identified for him is that fact that there is a lot of support for wrestling in our community and we have great programs in place for all ages and skill levels of wrestlers. As I answered his questions and followed up with questions of my own, I realized that we were talking less and less about wrestling and more about making gains and improvements at a systems level. At the end of the conversation, I was energized and excited about the direction of the Maple Valley wrestling program and about the work I am doing as a teacher and leader in our learning community. It is not enough to be a good coach or teacher if your goal is to make significant and lasting gains consistently; you have to have both program support and an effective system. I feel good about the fact that I am in the correct system and programs as a coach and educator in relation to the professional and personal goals I have set for myself.

The High School Wrestling Season is only 18 days away,

GO BEARS!

Tahoma Sr HS Maple Valley Wa Homecoming Week 2009

THS homecoming is this week and there is lots going on in our school. Today was our annual coronation assembly and I was excited to see what the staff and students put together for the community. This year’s theme is Harry Potter. Each year our activities coordinator and a horde of student and parent volunteers transform our gym into something from another world. This year was no different; the coronation assembly went well and the students did a great job decorating and scripting the coronation. Our staff was well represented in the production as well. Ann Hobson and Mike Jackson were excellent MC’s and Mr. Hagg made a great Haggert from the Harry Potter series. All three teachers made their characters come to life.

For me, the students’ musical performances put this year’s coronation over the top. I told our activity coordinator, Dave Peters, and several students that this was my favorite homecoming assembly in the nine years I have worked at THS. After reflecting on why I enjoyed this assembly so much I realized that all the effort and energy I saw displayed today was an affirmation that we are moving in the right direction as we try to improve the levels of respect, engagement and relationships.

Two student musical groups performed together today and I feel like the musicians were a great example of the “One School” message and initiative students and staff are working toward this year. "Afterward" is a rock/punk band and "Knuckles Impact" is a rap group that at first glance does not seem to have much in common besides a love for music. Last year both groups performed separately and did so very well but this year we were surprised with a collaborative effort. Though the groups taste in music and other interests are very different, they took the time to develop relationships that allowed them to take something that was already good and make it even better. I really appreciated the risk they took and the energy they committed to homecoming week.

Tomorrow is Toga day and we have the Fall Fling celebration to support homecoming week. I am looking forward to the staff Sumo wrestling matches that are going to take place in the name of “One School”.

Thank you to the graphic arts students that worked on the "One School" logo at the top of this post.

power point for Deliberate Practice- Moving from Good to Great!

I forgot to add the power point that I referenced in my last blog . Here you go.
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Level Of Practice

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Deliberate Practice- Moving from Good to Great!

I spoke to two different coaches this week regarding what it takes to move a team forward and to accomplish shared goals. Both coaches’ answers were influenced by the work that has been done within our school system to move closer to classroom 10 learning. The 1st coach shared his new practice template with me and I was surprised to see that he had basically taken the classroom 10 handout that we all received at THS during our last half day and reworked it so it applied to his basketball practices. Pretty cool stuff!




I was even more impressed the next day when another coach sent me a power point to help me answer the question of “how do we move from good to great?”



During a conversation I had with Coach Burnham last week while we were driving kids to Ellensburg for a practice, we identified our athletes’ practice effort and intensity as an area that we would like to improve. Don’t get me wrong, I was pleased with our team's 4th place finish at the state wrestling tournament last year but we can do better. If our boys are truly going to have the opportunity to win it all this year, changes to my practice plans and coaching style need to be made. During the drive to Eburg( GO WildCats!), Doug pointed out that the technique we teach is good but we had neglected to teach them skills that will elevate their level of practice to a championship level( aka Tahoma Style practice room )



Three days later I received an email with an awesome power point presentation on Deliberate Practice from Doug. The power point presentation is going to help both the wrestling team and a group of student athletes that our athletic director and I are working with this year on leadership and influencer skills.



My point is, both the practice plan and power point that the two educators/coaches created were influenced by the “planning templates, influencer strategies, system thinking, and the capacity to engage in skillful conversations” that are a major piece of what makes us Tahoma.



GO BEARS!!!!

special thanks to my friend coach Burnham for creating the poster on this post and also for inspiring me to be a better coach!

Time Well Spent

Last week was super busy for me yet I had a hard time reflecting on what I actually accomplished when I tried to sit down on Sunday to my weekly blog. I feel like I am working several different jobs currently and I am stressing that I am going to “drop the ball” somewhere along the way in one area or another. I definitely need to work on my time management. This post may seem a bit random and unorganized but I wanted to capture a brief reflection on the four major things I have been thinking about lately.
1. Husband and a Father---- Kerstin and I found out on Friday that we are having a little girl this February and we are very happy. As much as we love having a 3 year old that is “all boy” we were hoping for some balance in our house and our prayers were answered. There is already way too much testosterone in the Feist house hold. We are considering Lilly as a potential name. I am looking forward to meeting “daddy’s little girl”.

2. Classroom teacher----- My students have been awesome this year! The young adults I am working with have higher levels of motivation and attitude than I saw last year and I am enjoying the time we have spent building relationships this September. I have had several conversations with my students regarding the “One School” initiative that Tahoma High is embracing and I feel like the kids get what we are trying to do and are excited about it. As I sat in a staff meeting last Friday listening to a presentation on “Classroom 10” best practices and how consciously including thinking skills and habits of the Mind into our lesson through backwards design, I kept think about the one school initiative and the work we are doing as a staff when a thought came to me and stuck- as the staff continues to engage each other and students around our “One School” initiative, it would be beneficial to connect our work to the habits and skills that are a part of our daily teaching practices. When I asked my students which habit of the mind they felt most closely related to the “One School” Initiative, they identified listening and understanding with empathy

3. Wrestling Coach- last Saturday was the 1st of 5 consecutive training camps to prepare some of Washington’s top wrestlers to compete at the national level. 80 of the state’s Best wrestlers were invited to come train at THS last Saturday and we had 40 wrestlers show up for two three hour sessions. Within the group, there were national champions, all Americans,. Wa state champions and several state placers. Below are a list of objects I prepared to share with the wrestlers and their families. I am proud to say that several Tahoma wrestlers are among the elite wrestlers from our state preparing to compete at the national and college level.

National Team Fall Practices 2009

Objectives:

• Create opportunities for national team coaches to communicate and work with some of Wa st best wresters in order to promote dual team and Fargo participation.

• Create opportunities for some of the best wrestlers in the state to train together in the fall.

• Organize and identify technique, skills and drills that will be used as part of the Wa state national team training plan in the Spring and Summer.

• Help physical and mentally prepare our wrestlers for the upcoming USA wrestling seasons.

• Identify and work on goals setting as a staff and with our wrestlers.

4. Administrative Intern- Two words: very busy I am enjoying the projects that I am working on and have had to problem solve on a daily. The two big projects I am spending the most time with are the Fall Fling (student appreciation assemble) and student leadership training. Both projects stemmed from the August Student-Teacher discussions that took place as part of our school’s August staff training days. I am excited for the opportunity to meet with students once a month to discuss leadership and becoming influencers in this learning community. I am meeting with two different groups ( 80 ASB class reps and officers and 30 sports team captains). My first meeting the student athletes is tomorrow. The  invite I sent them is below. Go Bears!

Letter given to select student athletes:

Tahoma Student Athletics Leadership Training 2009-2010

Tahoma Style

“Having great leadership is a big key to success. It’s really the leaders’ team because they are the one whom the rest of the players, especially the freshman, look up to when setting standards. Our team will go as far as our leaders are willing to take us.” Mike Cadrea, Arizona State Softball- 6- Time National Championship Coach


Congratulations! You have been selected by the Tahoma coaching staff to represent your team during a series of leadership training meetings that are focused on athletes. Two athletes have been selected from each team to join this group. We will be meeting once a month to discuss topics such as leading by example, vocal leadership, and “Tahoma Style” in our school, practices rooms, and community. We will also be discussing how we can promote our “One School” initiative as teammates and coaches.
Our first meeting will be October 1st in portable 18 during reading period. We will cover introductions, the proposed agenda for the year and questions the group might have while we snack on some doughnuts and juice.

Please show this letter to your teacher as your pass out of class next Tuesday,
Coach Feist
Cfeist@tahomasd.us

http://headlockhero.blogspot.com/

Rally Cry- "One School!"

Blog post #3


September 22, 2009

Rally Cry- “One School!”

One of my former wresters, a 2009 graduate, stopped by my office to drop off an envelope last week. His parents had documents that needed delivery and John agreed to bring them. While we visited, John explained that he was heading off to college next week and shared some of his plans for the year. I was glad to speak with him; we had developed a strong relationship during his wrestling career and I was glad he was excited about starting college.

Before leaving he gave me a letter that was to be read later. The visit was a welcome distraction to a long day and a busy week, but the letter gave me new energy around the work we are engaging in at THS this year. I misted up a bit to learn that John not only valued our relationship deeply, but more importantly, recognized that his relationship with me, and other coaches and teachers, over the past four years helped him stay clear of smoking and other negative peer pressures while trying to accomplish lofty goals and dreams. I called John later to thank him for the kind letter and ask permission to reference and quote him in my blog. A line from John’s letter that made me reflect on how important relationships are to the teaching profession stated, “You've always been the person that I immediately think of when a survey about Tahoma asked, 'Do you have a faculty member that you can talk to for any problems you encounter?' You have always been there for me, teaching me, guiding me down the right path, pushing me to be the best, helping to shape me into the man that I will ultimately become.”

I was reminded by the letter that a relationship with a teacher, coach or other positive adult is a crucial resource that all our students need but all students do not get. Regardless of our students’ backgrounds, they are going to face social and academic challenges while in school and any additional support through positive relationships can only increase our kids’ chances for success. In my mind, “One School” is a place where every student has an adult they can relate to and count on.

I regularly reflect on a relationship I was fortunate to have during high school with a teacher that I felt connected to and knew I could count on. The relationship was a “difference maker” in my life. Coach Brown could be regularly found at practice wearing his retro singlet under his “short” shorts but over his collared polo shirt; something to this day I still smile about. Larry could also be found on a regular basis sporting dapper suits or stylish tie and suspender combos. Yet, regardless of how he dressed for practice or class, I could count on the fact that Coach Brown would be there each day waiting with whistle in hand and a kind word for me at the door. Coach Brown and his staff created an environment that allowed us to do more than just become wrestlers; we were given life coaching and an opportunity to become young men of substance. His commitment, consistency and high expectations for “his boys” were enough to make me love him forever. Though I learned and experienced many things while under Coach Brown’s watch, it was the personal relationship and respect between us that I appreciated most.

After meeting with students and staff last month to discuss how we can improve our learning community through respect, effective communication and a shared understanding of the “One School” concept, I have thought about our discussions and responses several times. I am starting to think that “One School” should be the rally cry for both staff and students to come together as we work to increase: respect, effective communication and engagement with members of our learning community. The increased respect and relationships in our building due to a “One School- charge!” could be the difference maker in moving our learning community from “good to great!”

Go Bears!

President Obama's Message Relates to Classroom 10 Teaching and Learning

The president’s speech was a great way to kick off the new school year! The majority of the students I spoke with had positive reflections of the president’s speech and some good connections were made between the message and student goals for the year. I was also energized by the speech and found myself reflecting on President Obama’s message of personal responsibility, setting high goals, and persisting. After reflection and discussions with staff and students regarding the president’s message and our district wide initiative for Classroom 10 learning, I realized that I felt so energized and positive about President Obama’s speech because it was an affirmation we are on the right path regarding the work we are doing with classroom 10. The president’s message directly connected to our learning community work with self directed learning and the habits persistence and responsible risk.



My students started the year out discussing habits, thinking skills, and district outcomes and indicators in regards to what they need to accomplish. President Obama’s stress on persisting, personal responsibility and setting goals was a solid confirmation that our learning community is on the right path. It felt good to listen while students discussed President Obama’s speech and made connections to the habits, skills and outcomes posters on the classroom wall. I also appreciated that President Obama encourage students to reach out to teachers to help with setting and accomplishing goals. Creating positive relationships with teachers, coaches and other responsible adults is crucial to our students’ success and I am glad President Obama took the chance to encourage students to seek out those relationships.



A few nights ago I received an email from a former student-athlete that is finishing his sr year at a high school in Washington DC. This young man only attend THS for one year, but while here joined multiple sports teams and was also active in clubs. Though the student did not reference the President’s speech, the student wanted me to know that he realized that he needed to take responsibility for his schooling and finish his high school career with renewed dedication.



When this young man found out that he would have to move to the other side of the country so his mother could take a job, he became very upset and gave up on school. The young man was an immigrant to our country and had experienced a lot of rough transitions over the past three years and was heart sick about having to leave THS. He was just starting to feel settled and content with his schooling and life in Maple Valley when he was told he had to move again. Though we talked about persisting and making the best of the situation, he still failed most of his classes and basically gave up on school. I remember thinking that if he had been able to attend classes and participate in sports with us for more than one year, he would have had been better prepared to persist through this difficult time in his life. I also remember feeling depressed about the situation; I hate seeing kids struggle and suffer. I was extremely glad to receive an email and learn that the president’s message had reached him and he was ready to finish his Sr. year strong. I also like to think that the time he spent in our district classroom and sports programs helped prepare him for this last year of school in. Below is quote from this former THS student regarding some of the most important lessons he learned while a member of our learning community.



Former THS student quote:

“The most important lessons I learned are 1.no matter the situations out of school, you should never let it negatively impact your work, and 2.don't ever give up and stop trying just because things chang


Special thanks to my friend and assistant coach Doug Burnham for creating the persistance poster at the top of the page.

What is "Tahoma Style?"

Blog #1 September 7, 2009

I am focusing on improved communication this year as a goal for myself. As a: program coordinator, teacher, coach, admin intern, father and husband, I realize that effective communication is crucial if I am going accomplish my many goals this year. I plan on using this blog to communicate with community members about the projects and teams I am working with while also sharing personal reflections and stories.

What is “Tahoma Style?”

“Tahoma Style” is a phrase that has stuck with me since having a discussion with our athletic director last spring regarding what we felt was best for student athletes and coaches in our school system. At the end of our discussion I realized that we were both trying to identify traits, skills, and habits that we felt needed to be taught and identified with student athletes and coaches. The traits, skills, actions, and habits that were identified are responsible for creating behaviors that can be considered “Tahoma Style” for our athletes and coaches.

I think “Tahoma Style” is the way we want our student-athletes and coaches to carry themselves while in: competition, the classroom and the community. “Tahoma Style” also seems to apply to how coaches work with their student-athletes. After talking with Tony about what he does to promote and teach “Tahoma Style” for both coaches and student-athletes in the football program, I found myself wondering what other coaches in our district consider as the key components for “Tahoma Style” and how it is implemented within their programs. Additionally, I wondered how the phrase was connected to what I do in the classroom as a teacher and in the school as an administrative intern this year. Since we have labeled Classroom 10 as what we want for teachers and students in the classroom, then maybe we need to label what we want for our district coaches and student-athletes as well while they learn, train and compete outside of the classroom. Though many of the components of classroom 10 can be found in my wrestling practice plans and in the gym during our wrestling practice, there is a difference in how I get the most out of my athletes compared to how I push my students and the more I think about how I coach kids, the “Tahoma Style” of coaching seems to fit.



As the head wrestling coach for THS, I have worked for the past five years to create a sense of pride in our student athletes that is connected to what I consider “Tahoma Style”. When I became a head coach five years ago, one of the first orders of business was to create and communicate my philosophy on coaching. I feel that it is crucial that our coaches not only write out their philosopy or coaching identiy page but also share it with their athletes and others in their program. Sharing our coaching philosopy and goals is definitly an aspect of "Tahoma Style." Below is my coaching philosophy and goals.



Coaching Philosophy
Tahoma Style: Pride through Commitment to Excellence!

The sport of wrestling is both challenging and rewarding. Our staff strives for each wrestler to experience great physical and mental growth while being an active participant in the THS Wrestling Program. Wrestling is a non cut sport and anyone that completes a season with the THS wrestling team will experience personal growth. Wrestlers will be able to achieve growth through commitment to individual and team excellence. It takes courage to fully commit to the pursuit of excellence. Great athletes have the mental toughness to be courageous even in bleak situations. Courage is required to keep pushing while tired, in pain, or behind in the 3rd round. Much like in life beyond athletic competition, sacrifice, perseverance, and above all courage are required to make it through intense struggle. Though one athlete can never make or break a team’s season, a unified group of athletes can accomplish great things if they put heart, body and mind into the cause. Our staff works hard to facilitate a program that helps our student athletes become: stronger, confident, proud, competitive, decisive, humble and most importantly committed to each other and the team’s goals. Winning matches is not the primary goal of this program. The program’s success is a by-product of our athletes’ commitment to excellence while consistently making good decisions both on and off the mat.



My Coaching Goals:

1. Continue to align philosophy, goals and wrestling technique for Wolf Pack, Tahoma Middle School, Bear Claw Freestyle Club and Tahoma High School athletics so our student athletes will experience smooth transitions.

2. Increase athletes’ classroom and athletic performance with a training plan that incorporates sound technique, goal setting, top physical training, good nutrition and moral guidance.

3. Create opportunities for Tahoma athletes to grow through community contributions.

4. Continually work to improve communication with: athletes, the student-body boosters, alumni, parents, teaching staff and other THS teams.