Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 18, 2008 SCHOOL DISTURBANCE

Transfer students from Scotland?

Two teachers taken to hospital

BY LINDA RUSH, THE SOUTHERN

Seven students were arrested Monday after a disturbance at the Tri-County Special Education facility in the McElvain School building at 593 Ava Road north of Murphysboro.

A female teacher was punched by a student and suffered a head injury. She was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro. Another teacher developed medical problems after the disturbances and was also taken by ambulance to a local hospital, according to a release by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department.

Niki Donnelle Wessel was admitted to St. Joseph hospital, where she was listed in stable condition Monday night. No information was available on the second teacher.

Deputies were called to the school at about 11:05 a.m. Monday.

Also assisting were officers from the Murphysboro Police Department, Illinois State Police and one officer from the Ava Police Department.

Seven students - all juveniles - were arrested initially, on charges ranging from aggravated battery and mob action, to resisting or obstructing a peace officer. More students are expected to be charged as the investigation continues. The juvenile-age student who initially assaulted the teacher is also in custody.

About 20 officers were at the scene, said Sgt. Mike O'Leary of the sheriff's department, but about half of them were simply providing backup and weren't actively involved.

Once officers arrived, O'Leary said, it took them only about 10 minutes to bring the group under control.

O'Leary said he isn't sure how many students were involved in the melee. "The ones who were brought to the sheriff's department were the ones who didn't comply with police demands," he said. Generally, juveniles are transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Franklin County, he added.

"This is definitely the biggest disturbance our department has responded to in the four to five years since McElvain was rented by Tri-County for its special programs," O'Leary said. Students have been assigned there because of problems in regular classrooms, he said.

A school data Web site lists McElvain with an enrollment of 64 students from first through 12th grades this year. In 2007, the school had just grades 5 through 12.

O'Leary said deputies are called to the school "usually once or twice a week. Calls there are usually routine, just minor disturbances" that are quelled just by the presence of officers, he added.

A message left to the office of Tri-County Director C.W. "Chuck" Hamilton was not returned. A staff member at McElvain School answered the call, but said staff had been ordered not to comment on the incident.

Upon further review, maybe the "School Disturbance" was actually the school's new M.M.A. Class!

Mixed Martial Arts Makes Its Way to High School

By JUSTIN PORTER

WINCHESTER, Mass. — At the high school in this small, pretty and proper-looking town near Boston, a student was being choked by another student — with the school’s permission.

Just another meeting of the Winchester High mixed martial arts club, which may be the only of its kind in the country.

It began as the brainchild of In-Goo Kwak, a senior at Winchester who began campaigning for the program when he was a freshman. A student of martial arts since age 8, he wanted to create an outlet for students who were not interested in traditional sports.

Now housed in the school’s wrestling room, the club has nearly two dozen participants, ages 14-18.

At a class last month, Kwak arranged for a guest instructor, Marcelo Siqueira, someone who planned to make regular appearances. Siqueira runs a martial arts center in nearby Somerville and was a national karate champion in Brazil. He has a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu and studied at the famous Chute Boxe mixed martial arts academy in Curitiba, Brazil.

Siqueira was here to help Kwak, one of his students, and also to scout for potential talent. Siqueira manages a few professional fighters. He understands all too well the sport’s violent reputation, having fought in Brazil’s Vale Tudo arenas, the home of the no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle matches that gave birth to mixed martial arts.

“A lot of people think it’s too aggressive or violent,” Siqueira said of the sport of mixed martial arts. “But after a while, they see a different perspective.”

He added that the club offered an opportunity to pour out aggression in a safe environment designed for it. He spoke passionately about the self-discipline required to be a fighter.

Mixed martial arts was illegal in nearly every state in the country in the early 1990s, but is legal in most states now. The sport outgrosses professional boxing in pay-per-view revenue. It is now an arena for serious athletes. To succeed, a fighter must acquire the skills of four separate combat sports — boxing, wrestling, kick-boxing and submission grappling — and combine them.

Kwak lobbied for the program for two years before it began in 2006. When school administrators saw his commitment and professionalism — he pursued everything from correct safety measures to financing — they supported the club.

The school’s only concern was that the students were not actually hitting each other. They practice kicks and punches to pads, but do not kick or punch with one another. The club has not had a serious injury in the two years it has been active.

Brian Carroll, the athletic director at Winchester High, said he was thrilled with the program’s success, in particular mentioning the students’ dedication.

“They worked extremely hard,” he said. “They’re dedicated. So any way we can support them, we’re going to.”

Kwak said one of his goals with the program was to offer something to students who were not “the jocks who dominate the sports.”

Alex Woudard, a freshman, said he did not like sports like baseball or football because they were too slow.

“I started a few weeks ago because I watch this stuff on TV and I wanted to do it for real,” he said.

In the beginning, the club met once a week, with about five students. Kwak has done all of the organizing for the club, including fund-raising. Last winter, he went to business after business in town, asking for donations. In exchange, he offered to use the companies’ logos and mention them as sponsors in the club’s introductory brochure.

But beyond that, he did not have much to offer. That, coupled with his age, got him turned away frequently. Of about 100 businesses, 10 donated money. But Kwak slowly began to receive support.

Tom Defranzo Martial Arts, a local tae kwon do school, donated equipment. Kwak has developed a list of guest instructors like Siqueira. Robert Flint, a graduate of Winchester High who is a martial artist, donates his time several days a week.

“I thought it was a joke the first time I heard about it,” Flint said.

Kwak, who plans to stay involved with the club after he graduates, said his goal was for his group to compete with other clubs. He has reached out to Boston University’s mixed martial arts program to try to organize a meet.

The potential is there. Wrestling, vital to a complete game in mixed martial arts, is a sport in which Winchester High excels. Its wrestling team has gone 60-0 in the past two seasons.

And that means the so-called jocks have a place in the program, too. Brendan Cleary, a three-year member of the wrestling team, was one of the first students to sign up for the club and helps out with instructing.

In Siqueira’s class last month, he explained the process of training in mixed martial arts to the students circled around him.

“You don’t teach M.M.A., you teach the pieces,” he said.

He said the sport required skill in boxing, wrestling, submissions and kicking. He then taught a basic wrestling move, the shoot, but with a twist. He begins the technique with a punch to occupy the opponent’s hands.

At the end of the lesson, the students lined up and one at a time sparred with him. For the students, it was an opportunity to battle a world-class athlete.

“That’s perfect, there’s nothing you can do,” one student said in frustration as he sparred with Siqueira. From somewhere among the group of students watching came this response from Flint: “Could have something to do with him being a world champion.”