At the Wheatley School Fall Sports Awards Program on Nov. 23, the coach and team members of the 1967 and 1968 Varsity Cross Country teams were inducted into the Wheatley Hall of Fame. Under the leadership of Coach Irwin August, the Wheatley cross country teams won two consecutive New York State championships, a feat that has not been duplicated by a Wheatley team.

Coach Irwin August and 13 of his team members attended the induction ceremony to receive the long overdue recognition they so richly deserved. Dr. August, who began his teaching career at Wheatley in the late 1950's, started the cross-country program in the fall of 1965. During its inaugural season, the team achieved a record of 1-14 in dual meet competition, which gave little indication of the meteoric rise that awaited the team.

Incredibly, in only the second year of the program's existence, the 1966 team swept through the competition to win the Nassau County championship and qualify for the New York State championship meet. Wheatley finished second in the state meet, finishing only five points behind the Class "C" champion. For the next two years, the 1967 and 1968 cross country teams won the Class "C" New York State championship, easily outrunning the competition by 63 and 42 points, respectively. While an appearance at the New York State Championship Meet by a Wheatley cross country team would not occur, again, until 2002, Coach August's teams in 1969 and 1970 finished second in the Nassau County meet, losing both years to the eventual New York State champion, Levittown.

Team member Rich Vlahov spoke on behalf of his teammates and described the affection and respect that team members had for their coach. Coach August was able to motivate team members, appealing to their sense of pride, to commit themselves to an incredibly ambitious training regimen that averaged 15 miles a day. Rich described the early morning runs at a local golf course and the repetitive "hills" they ran along the Long Island Expressway. Finally, Rich recalled Coach August's daily admonition to "have fun."

Coach August and each member of the team received a plaque, celebrating their outstanding athletic career at Wheatley and their fine contribution to the athletic program. The Wheatley Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Wheatley Athletic Department and Varsity Club. In addition to Coach August, the following team members attended the Hall of Fame induction:

Robert Bush, Thomas Forero, Richard Lowenthal, John Mok, Steven Shukow, Gary Vlahov, John Walsh, Joseph Cilmi, David Kurman, Howard Laskau, Warren Nadel, Lance Stein and Richard Vlahov.

Some exciting changes and innovations have been made in the Willets Road Intramural program. A research-based program has been implemented in which students work together from a sports management perspective, which has provided more opportunities for cooperative play and healthy competition. Thanks to the support and encouragement of Michael Gordon, Willets Road principal, the physical education staff adopted a curriculum based on the work of Daryl Siedentop called the "Sport Education Model." This research-based program has three primary goals: to develop a skilled and knowledgeable child who is able to apply game strategies in a real game setting; to become sport literate and understand the rules, traditions, and rituals of sports; and to promote positive attitudes in our children so that they value a physically active lifestyle.

Becky White, Kristina Tsabasis and David Burke, our physical education teachers at Willets Road, developed this new program, which has received an enthusiastic reception by our students. The program is open to all students and is conducted during the lunch periods. Students organize themselves into teams and work cooperatively with one another. Each team has a team manager, fitness manager, publicist, equipment manager, and a statistician. The program is highly organized and teams participate in instructionally based practices prior to competition. Teams develop team names, mascots, cheers, warm-ups, and posters.

During the first two months of the school year, almost half of the 440 students in the school are participating in the program. Students have responded positively to this innovative approach as they enjoy the social interaction and eagerly pursue the leadership opportunities. Activities in which the students will participate during the school year will include wiffleball, basketball, indoor soccer, floor hockey, team handball and kickball.