Education stressed at welcome

Sixth annual parent/athlete meeting tomorrow at LMCS

Lasting roughly an hour, the annual parent/athlete meeting at LMCS is an opportunity to cover a lot a groundwork for those both new to the experience and expectations, and returning athletes and parents in one fell swoop.
“I would rather do what we can to distribute and collect the required materials in one big night than have to do multiple events throughout the school year,” said Athletic Director Jim Boehmer of the evening.
Featured willl be a panel discussion with a group from the North Iowa Officials Association; and, Brian Budach of Lake Mills Physical Therapy.
Said Boehmer of the panel; “Five area officials (member of the North Iowa Officials Association, NIOA) will be present to share insight into their role, their duties, how to see sportsmanship, what they expect from fans and athletes, etc. This group are all current officials that work contests from youth sports through college sports.  They work a number of different sports and also have experience working state championship events for the IHSAA ad the IGHSAU.”
Budach will present on an important topic to parents and athletes in all sports—concussions.
“Brian Budach will share information about concussions and the testing we do to help protect our students.  This will include the return to play protocol we follow,” Boehmer said.
The primary purpose of the night is educational in nature, and allow the department to communicate some required material in one shot, rather than sporadically throughout the year.
“This meeting is important to help us understand more about our athletic department and cover the items we need to cover by law,” Boehmer noted. “It also allows us to offer a program that provides us with new insight in our role as parents, fans, and athletes.”
He said that since its inception, the evening has become a guid for other districts in handling information dissemination and gathering.
“This model has become a model others statewide are using or looking at using,”he noted. “Districts that use a similar model to ours already are amazed at our attendance.  People in Lake Mills support their students and giving up an hour, or so, of your time is one way we can do that.  Guest presenters in the past have been very impressed with our program and parent and student attendance.”
Boehmer invited other interested parties to attend and present, should they have something that may be valuable for students and their parents.
  “Other groups interested in setting up a booth/table in the foyer that night are welcome,” he said. “If anyone needs to share information with our audience that night, they can contact contact me for information.” Last year, among the groups presenting information were the All-Sports Booster Club; and, the Winnebago County Task Force. Also a part of the evening are members of the Lake Mills coaching staffs who will greet parents at the registration tables when they arrive to sign-in.
Boehmer concluded; “This meeting is not meant to be fun, but rather informative, so we can all better serve our students.” He added, they also utilize this time to follow state requirements. “We also share the required materials and distribute the information we are required to provide by Iowa Law.”
Doors open at 6 p.m., with the program starting at 6:30 p.m.