Coaches Meeting

The most recent event that I attended where civic concerns were discussed was at the coaches meeting held prior to the start of in-house basketball season. I am an assistant coach for my younger brothers tenth grade team and was required to sit in on this event. Although the topics discussed were not in any way life changing or monumental to the surrounding community, they did hold importance of the players, coaches, parents, and referees involved in the basketball league.

The meeting was held in the cafeteria of the local middle school, which I used to attend. Upon entering the front doors of the school, a million memories filled my head of when I was much younger and used to prowl these very hallways. After entering the cafeteria, which seemed much smaller than I remembered, I was handed a packet of rules and regulations and took my seat in one of the chairs I used to eat lunch in around a decade ago. The lights were very bright and I could hear them hum even over the light chatter of the accumulating attendants. The slight odor of ammonia could be noticed as the custodians were busy cleaning the floors in the hallway. Glancing around I felt slightly out of place since I was much younger than most of the other coaches in attendance. Most appeared to be parents who had a son playing in the league.

As the meeting began, the league director stood up in front of everybody in attendance and began reading over the rules and regulations, beginning with the changes from the previous year. There seemed to be a light tone in the room as some coaches often made jokes or comments back and forth with the league director. At the end of the meeting there was time to take comments or questions on the material presented. I was surprised when the directed allowed a change in the rules to allow players to put their last names on the jerseys. The players have seemed to enjoy this option.

Anoka-Ramsey College Community

Weaving through the halls of our ever-populating center for learning, which we like to call ARCC, I couldn't help but wonder about this community we are all apart of. How would I classify this community? It most surely cannot be done through physical description. There are many different people from all walks of life. Age seems to be irrelevant as well. "Students" would be the obvious label, however that is too simple. The community at AR is much greater than just the students. It wouldn't even exist without the professors, administrators, IT techs, custodians etc... They are all an important link in the chain that makes up the entire entity that is Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

With that all laid out, it brings me back to the classification of our community. Although everybody is here for their own personal agenda, we all share in the common goal of expanding our education, or helping make that goal possible for others. "Facilitators of Knowledge" stands out as a better label than "Students" since it includes everybody. So next time you are walking through Anoka Ramsey Community College take some time to think about what makes up the Anoka Ramsey College Community.