Charlo athletes treasure academics, sports
Megan Strickland
Superintendent Thom Peck excitedly tells school board trustees the
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CHARLO – In Charlo brawn and brains often occur simultaneously. Superintendent Thom Peck told school board members Nov. 19 that he believes the district is in the running for a highly coveted Montana High School Sports Association Academic Excellence Award this year. The award is given to the school that has the highest average grade point average among lettering varsity team members.
“It’s really difficult to win that award in Class C because there are way more schools,” Peck said. “I think there are 85 Class C schools, whereas in AA there are 14. To win it in Class C is really, really hard, but MHSA says that that is the highest award you can get. It is bigger than any state championship you can get. The trophy for it is a big monster.”
Peck has been at the helm when Bigfork High School and Three Forks High School won an academic excellence award.
“It’s a big deal to me,” Peck said. “When we get to the end of a quarter or the end of a season, (calculating the GPA) is the first thing I do. A lot of kudos need to go to the coaches. There are a lot of times when coaches will go to the teachers or kids will show up late to practice because ‘no, they have to get their homework done.’”
The football team had the lowest average grade point average in the school, but it was still a solid B at 3.317. Seventeen of the 25 football players were classified as academic all-state this year, which means the students lettered and had at least a 3.5 grade point average.
Cheerleaders had the highest percentage of team members qualifying for academic all-state, with 80 percent of the squad achieving the honor.
“Here’s the one that amazes me,” Peck said. “Our volleyball (grade point average) was 3.742. That’s pretty amazing.”
School board members were impressed with the high marks.
“It’s like all As and two Bs,” trustee Tonya Truman said.
The MHSA Academic Excellence Award is announced every August. Only 10 Montana schools have held the award since its inception 26 years ago.
