Hello! Welcome to our new project: Cupcake English Blog!
We’re only getting our feet wet this weekend, so please do not feel any pressure! Look at this as an interesting opportunity to become a brave writer and a deeper thinker. We have a great deal to learn from each other.
Your first job on the “Cupcake Blog” is to write a brief (or lengthy) response to one (or more) of these three posts. Submit your work this weekend.
Three options are presented here. You will pick one (or more) and write a brief (or lengthy) response. Read each option carefully to decide which is the best fit for you! Share your work, and then check back once Ms. A has had time to post your comment on our Cupcake English Blog!
OPTION THREE
Here is a link to the article “Rebuilding Program, and Pride of a Town”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/sports/avella-high-school-in-pennsylvania-regains-football-pride.html
This is a great article about the football team in a Pennsylvania high school. Read carefully and you will find several interesting details that catch your attention. Write a response of 40 words (or more) in which you share your thoughts about the article. How does this town feel about football? Does the town care about the teenagers? Are you happy about what is happening in this town and its high school? Use details to support your claims!!!!
Be sure to carefully proofread your writing before you share it. Maybe even read it aloud. Type your work as a document, and then paste it into the comment box on the blog. We look forward to reading your thoughts!
I have many thoughts and questions on this article. The town that is featured in this article, Avella, seems as though they cared more about their football team a long time ago than they do now. For example, the now head coach Ryan Cecchini said that they started losing in 1995 when he was just a freshman, so the team had been winning most of their games and had fans, but then when they started losing they lost most of their fans and players. When the football team started winning again, people wanted to join the team and they wanted to watch their town be victorious. I do think that the town does care about their teenagers because the town and school still kept the football team going when they were losing, but there just weren’t many supporters until they started winning. The town only cares about them if they are winning, but even if they are losing, some people in the town are still supporting them. Ryan Cecchini, a man who graduated from college and comes home to his hometown of Avella, PA, wants to help make Avella’s football team better, but so many people quit after the team started losing, so he takes over as head coach and tries to re-build the towns high school football team and is successful in doing it. Lastly, comparing this town to my town of Haddam-Killingworth, I am very happy with our football team and the atmosphere surrounding it. Our football team does well in many of their games and they have many supporters who support them win or lose.
Hi, Emma. Good job being the first person to comment on this article. I like how you point out that the team lost some support during their losing streak. This makes me wonder how a team feels over time when they notice that the stands are only full if they have a winning record. Is it just as important for a team to have a good crowd when they’re losing?
Take a look at the slide show, too. What do you think of the photos?
One last question: Is it a good idea for teachers to assign extra credit to students who attend football games at this high school? How about at H-K? Just football? Plays? Volleyball games?
The article shows how one spark can ignite an entire fire. The “spark” in this instance would be Avella’s football Coach Ryan Cecchin, while the “fire” would be the town along with the football team. As Coach Cecchin forces the team to “run until he (says) stop” it allows the players to become better prepared and start dominating their season(s). As their stats begin to increase, so does the town’s pride; essentially binding the town together and creating a family dynamic that all but disintegrated during the team’s losing streak. In the beginning Coach Cecchin remarks, “When I go to the local gas station and convenience store, people tell me, ‘Good job,’ everybody wants to wish you good luck. Before that, nobody really wanted to talk to you.” This shows how Coach Cechin has been the catalyst for a town to have a common ground to come together and build a firm community.
This article is showing how a town was able to rally around a football team that is just starting to get its feet back. Due to a winning record which is uncommon for players and family members alike. This makes people want to go to the top of the hill up the winding road and cheer. Ryan Cacchin was able to condition his team to make them untouchable compared to the other teams. This is like H-K football by out conditioning other teams and being able to make a successful season. In the slide show I saw a football player after a game playing a instrument, this shows that he does have commitment to the sport and the school. This football team is not only helping the town but also the players, the football player with the instrument is showing that he is taking the extra measure to show his love of the town and the team. With spirit this team was able to believe in themselves again and have the town believe in them.
I think that the town thinks about football as much as they do the kids getting off into college. They may even care about football more than some schools might care about football. I think that the town cares about the teenagers because that’s all they have to look forward to on a Friday night, and because their fathers and grandfathers playes for that same high school so it’s a bit of a pride thing. I think that the town is doing what every other high school is doing by focusing a lot on one sport that they have a shot at of doing really well and just like our school does. I also think that the coach is doing the right thing by having a fairness on the team when those other four boys volunteered and that they had a run extra so that it would be fair to the other players. The town views their football team as their entertainment because that’s all they have in that community of construction workers so they take pride in their high school football team.
FOR HAILI S.:
I have many thoughts on this article. One of them being that it shows how with enough hard work and determination, you can achieve anything. For example, before Ryan Cecchini, an Avella high school alumni player, started coaching the team, Avella had won nine games in eleven years. Cecchini “understood the severity and depth of the losing because he had experienced it firsthand.” This fueled his drive to work the kids harder than they have ever been pushed before. With his coaching and the players’ desire, they started their season with a 5-0 winning streak. Another thought that I had on this article was the fact that even though Avella had a severe losing streak, the fans never gave up on them. People still showed up to the games to support the boys even when they weren’t having a successful season. However, once they were actually starting to win, almost the entire town came to watch them. Students of Avella even started their own cheering section. This goes to show how big of an impact a close-knit community can have on today’s youth.
FOR JACK H.:
This image along with the article gives me many thoughts and questions about the town, its football program, and the generations behind it. In the article it talks about how the fahters and grandfathers played on the teammates ancient are still around to watch the team play, so the coach rebuilding the program not reassured the students but mostly regained supporting from the past players showing that this team was good at one point and now can be good again. Another thought that comes to mind is the fact that that this coach was very brave putting his reputation on the line to help the community, unlike many it
Others who saw the problem but weren’t brave enough to try.
I think that the town likes its football team mainly just when they are winning, people started going to games and supporting their towns team when it started getting better, not when they were loosing. Although a football team and many sports teams should have a supporting crowd even if they are loosing. I think what is happening in this town is a good thing, they are getting their football team back in shape for a winning season. I think the town wants to see their football succeed because it is all they have in their town, they take great pride in their high school especially if their football team is succeding.
This town really does not have much history or anything significance. But the people of the town support their community by standing behind the football team. This article really relates to how H-K is in terms of population and importance. So for this small town Avella in PA football is their pride and joy.
FOR DAVID P.:
I didn’t have much to say about this article except these guys were doing great so I had to read it over again and I realized this was a town that had not had much excitement since they had few sports teams, unlike our school. Then as I continued to read I noticed that many of the football players needed an attitude change at the beginning. For example, kids didn’t want to play for fear of losing. I thought that before Mr. Cencchini, the football team would run until a senior got tired which i thought was appalling. A team should run until the coach gets tired of watching them run and then run them some more that’s what makes champions. And the article is proof of that in their second season they’re going 5-0 and might go to playoffs.