Teachers change the game

Mia Ferraro
CHS Class of 22

(12/2020) After several months of anticipation around sports and updating COVID regulations, this past November, the Frederick County Public Schools’ Board of Education has approved the recommendations presented by the Return To Play Committee. What does this mean for Catoctin teams amidst the COVID pandemic? Head coach of CHS baseball, Mike Franklin, expects that the virus will not be a factor in how the team progresses in spring if sports indeed continue. "I'd even like to believe that we used this time to grow and become better physically and mentally," Franklin explains. "We have spent months together studying the finer points of the game mentally and tactically--even doing assignments detailing their specific techniques. I love that our players are still doing all of these things even when we are not on a field."

According to FCPS, every sports season will have six weeks for competition. Winter sports will begin on December 7th and will compete from January 4th through February 13th. Fall sports will begin on February 13th, competing from March 5th through April 17th. Thus begins spring sports, which will begin to compete on May 7th and end on June 19th. Further modifications may be made at any time based on metrics by the Superintendent and Frederick County Health Department.

Franklin sees that, while COVID has caused great difficulty for everyone, this time away from the field has had positive effects on the athletes. The baseball team was able to have a four-week season during late fall where they could practice, but could not compete. There was a lot of uncertainty about how many athletes would be willing to participate without fans or games, but the team averaged over 50 athletes for each session. "I think Covid may have relit the passion that our players have in them," Franklin suggests. "Sometimes when something that we love is taken away from us, we appreciate all that goes with it more. This game... it's a privilege not a right and I feel like our young people understand that through Covid."

Franklin has been coaching baseball and teaching physical education at Catoctin High School for 26 years now. He has also been serving as a virtual fitness teacher for the past 12 years. He started up the "Fired Up Fridays" program in 2012, which is still in place today, to inspire students about their future. In 2013, he started and taught the county’s first Unified PE class, which he still continues to teach. Franklin has received several awards throughout his career as a coach and a teacher. He has received the titles of 2013 MSABC District Coach of the Year and 2017 Fellowship of Christian Athletes Coach of the Year. The baseball team has won the Maryland Regional Championship title in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2013, as well as the Maryland State Baseball Championship title in 2013. His teaching awards include the titles of 2010-2011 School Based Teacher of the Year, 2014 Lions Club Teacher of the Year, 2014 Maryland AHPERD Simon McNeely Outstanding PE Teacher Award, and 2016 Hood College Charles Teacher of the Year. Just last year, Franklin received the 2019 "Teacher of the Year" Maryland State Department of Education Award.

Even after receiving such a numerous amount of honors, Franklin’s most memorable achievements are the ones that are not rewarded with a trophy. When reminiscing on his 26 years of coaching and teaching, he claims that his greatest memories are with the young people he has worked with and the adults who have worked alongside him. "I'm most proud of the relationships I've been blessed to have with our amazing students, fans and community. There's no place better," Franklin assures. His idea of success for himself, a team, and an individual does not involve a physical reward. "Nobody really cares about our championships or trophies, but what they remember is how you treated them," he states. "I don't think you can define success for teams or individuals with a tangible product. You can say, ‘The season will only be a success if we win the championship’ but that's just not true. And it works a few ways. If you win the championship but cheated, played dirty, and were an embarrassment to your school and community… was that really a success because you have a shiny object that says, 1st? Conversely, if a team uplifted each other everyday, served their community, grew their skill and had an undaunting will to compete each day… but they didn't have as many runs as the other team in a given game… can you really define that as losing? Success depends on what you value."

Receiving the title of Teacher of the Year last year was a humbling experience for a humble teacher. Franklin cherished the experience of meeting plenty of people across the state, and feels he grew as a teacher and a person after surrounding himself with such passionate people who serve the youth. "After 25 years of teaching, you see a lot. You see great teachers and you notice what makes them effective," he explained. "The Teacher of the Year experience really showed me some teachers that needed their light back." In a hotel during a night at a conference, he wrote his thoughts and reflections on paper, which soon became his Amazon #1 Best Seller, Teachers Changing the Game. This book was written to guide teachers as they build and change school culture. One significant example of this lesson is shown where it reads, "This group won’t be the same as last year, and they will have new challenges. It’s our job to know and adjust to that. You can’t use the same style, same lessons, and same plans every year. Do you want to teach one year thirty times or do you want to teach for thirty years?"

Within this book, Franklin outlined seven steps to make teamwork happen. Step one is to introduce each member’s personalities to each other. Step two is to identify and work with each member’s strengths and weaknesses. Step three is creating an expressed vision. Step four is to assign roles to team members and communicate. Step five is giving them the opportunity to accept or reject that role. Step six is creating the proper culture for the team to grow. Lastly, step seven is to assess and tweak from there. "Teams and cultures are a positive thing but it takes tons and tons of work--it never stops," he says. Releasing Teachers Changing the Game has given Franklin an opportunity to share his message on other platforms, including recently speaking for the virtual SHAPE Maryland Convention: Achieving Greatness Together, and speaking on an episode of On the Right Road! Podcast with Paula Phillips.

Coach Franklin wants to thank his readers for their support and positivity, as he says, "To all of the people that went out and got it, read it, shared something positive with me about it....THANK YOU! The stories that you've shared have humbled me and touched my heart, so THANK YOU." As he wrote in Teachers Changing the Game, "The best way I know to change a school’s culture is to serve. Serving is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. If you really want to make a difference to someone, try serving. When you serve others, you build deep, connecting bonds and really develop relationships."