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Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

experience

Greeley’s Athletic Director Geoff Curtis Encourages an Emphasis on “Embracing the Journey & the Experience”

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Geoff Curtis oversees, or in his words, is “a part of” the powerhouse that is Horace Greeley athletics in his role as athletic director. The boys swim team just wrapped up their undefeated conference season; the boys and girls ski team recently won team events; the girls swim team were State champs–winning at Ithaca College–and back in October the football team and the entire community celebrated a homecoming victory against the Irvington Bulldogs. 

There are many coaches at Horace Greeley High School, but there is only one athletic director.

“I’ve been a pretty fortunate athlete and educator throughout my whole sporting life,” said Curtis. Curtis played baseball at Lewis-Clark State College for coach Ed Cheff, who recently passed away, then went on to assistant-coach under him while in grad school. Curtis learned much from his mentors and works to pay it forward. “I had high quality educators and coaches from the very start, and that rubbed off on me,” said Curtis.

While observing a PE elementary school class one morning, he saw students at the end of the game they were playing, turn to each other to say, “Good game.” This is exactly what Curtis wants to see among his students. According to Curtis, they have to understand that, “for them to enjoy this game, they need each other…

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA SCHOONMAKER
PHOTO BY GEOFF CURTIS
PHOTO BY CHRISTINA SCHOONMAKER

Working Toward Growth

“You are a student and a person first, and being an athlete comes second,” he said. This outlook permeates every team and every coach in his district. The idea is not just for his students, it’s for everyone. “We as people should always be working on our growth.”

In the unique individual sports, wrestling and swimming, students compete against each other, but the scores are kept as a team. Curtis pointed out that when the wrestling and swimming coaches come into his office to tell him about the meet, they never tell him about their best three athletes, they tell him how the team did. It’s not just about the talents of the few. It’s “the squad, not the individual. That’s something that really permeates our department,” said Curtis. 


PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA SCHOONMAKER

Curtis highly values his co-workers and remains humble about his role as athletic director. “There are a lot of great things in place. I’m just looking around and seeing if there’s anything I can do to improve or acknowledge and continue what’s already here.” All he will allow is, “I’m fortunate to be in the position to have some impact – a small impact on all of it.”

Curtis has had to perform his duties during trying times. During the first year of COVID, he said, “Pretty soon it became clear, I’m not going to be able to meet with [my] students again. Except maybe a triple-masked senior ceremony on the baseball field.” It wasn’t just sports that were affected by COVID, of course. In Curtis’ words, everything that wasn’t the virtual classroom was canceled. 

Staying Grateful

“It highlights how much we appreciate our extracurriculars. From the educators who put in extra time to help these young people to the parents who didn’t get to watch to the community members who just want to come out and cheer them on.” Curtis is very thankful that some degree of normalcy has returned, and that athletics are able to resume at the level they have been.

In fact, “We kind of went whole hog for homecoming,” he said. They scheduled as many home games as possible and built the ‘Greeley Zone’–a blocked off area of campus from the back parking lot to the tennis courts, where they had food trucks. 

“People of every age were there,” said Curtis. “It was really a community event. There were young parents with not even school age kids who came by just to be a part of it.” 

Curtis embraces this aspect of his job. “The job of an athletic director and really any administrator in a district like this is to embrace those community opportunities that are there.” And Curtis is excited about the future, given the past success of community events. “We’re looking at something similar this spring. It’s in the planning stages right now,” he said.


PHOTOS BY CHRISTINA SCHOONMAKER

“It’s the Time with the Team”

The community element of sports highlights how much more than a game these events really are. “It might not have to do with the equipment that you use to play your sport. It’s the time with the team, it’s the things you learned from the coaches, it’s the experience and the journey,” said Curtis. 

There are astonishing wins and brutal losses, but there is so much more than that. “It’s fun and it’s rewarding and it’s hard work, all rolled into one,” said Curtis. “But it’s not easy.” 

These students made a commitment that everyone involved takes very seriously. That’s why a team’s players show up to practice multiple times a day, and that’s why people’s jobs revolve around it. But that’s not it either. It’s not one athlete, it’s not the entire town. It’s all the above.

Christina Schoonmaker is a Chappaqua-based freelance photographer. Her images capture events in photo journalistic style wrapped in emotion. Contact C73photography@gmail.com for more info.

The Experience of Being a Single Mom and Going it Solo during COVID-19

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The following was written on April 13, 2020, as an FYI, and edited here for publishing clarity. Three plus weeks later, the feelings are pretty much status quo, although I’ve settled into more of a routine, which helps. Like many, I imagine I’d be in a state of acute despair without Governor Cuomo’s daily briefings or summaries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I simply wish to bear witness to my personal experience as a Single American, Empty Nest mom staying home solo and doing my best to follow the new COVID-19 rules. 

My 23-year-old son lived with me for Month 1 of ‘all this.’ Renewed bonds, his humor, mine too, all helped ease the transition to this ‘new way.’  I loved having him here, in fact, after two plus years since starting empty nest in earnest (that is, post his graduation from college when he moved into the city permanently). 

It may appear at first glance that I rescued him bringing him home to the burbs after he developed mild symptoms, got diagnosed as positive with COVID-19, and recovered here, but I know the truth now.

A certain household structure of cooking and meal preparation is comforting and calming. Permission to and the ability to take care of a loved one are absolute gifts, too.

Please never take any of that for granted, ever, not for a minute.

So…

This one is for all the single people living in what boils down to, what is amounting to, a stretch of house arrest.

But ok, without the ankle bracelet.

Yes, social media and FaceTime calls with kids, family and special friends help. It has been especially heartening to keep up with my daughter almost daily as I had been feeling we had grown apart. She has taught herself new skills, and I’m planning on blaring about them soon too, if she’ll let me.

Yes, absolutely, a Zoom meeting or the sometimes seemingly infinite number of fitness or meditation classes and musicians and entertainers and political/educational forums online breaks things up and absolutely does help with motivation or to keep spirits up.

I’d have been lost for a stretch without private stretching/exercise sessions with a therapist from New Castle Physical Therapy for a back-related issue.

Laughter has been key to so many getting through this, so trust me that all the funny online posts in goofy Facebook groups or from all the self styled comedians out there are amazing lifelines for me, too.

I marvel at all the ingenuity and entrepreneurship and ponder the transforming future of where we will all land in the realm of real time versus virtual time. 

Still.. I spend a lot of time online for my work, so I look forward to getting off line… so there’s that. Ultimately, online communication is not like having humans in proximity in your home-whether it’s hearing the sound of a voice or seeing the gleam in someone’s eye. If you are a people person, which I am, by and large, the absence of  ‘actual’ time together is felt deeply.

If you don’t own a pet, which I don’t anymore (a long story for another day, perhaps), yes, it’s far worse than that.

I hear a lot: “I can’t imagine not having my dog through this (or dogs, or cat, or cats).”

Well, imagine it. Many single people do not have pets for a variety of reasons. At this juncture, I don’t have a pet. Not even a fish. And that is that, too. I am not looking for leads on getting a pet, so please, dear reader, do not go there. It actually hurts for you to. I’m fully aware of the options, and let’s just say, it’s complicated.

For me, all I know is that today is Day 10 of alone during COVID-19. For many, it’s well into the 20s, 30s or even 40 plus days. I contemplate the continued impact of long-term isolation. 

Whether it’s your kid’s groan when you tell him to get back to his homework, or your spouse or significant other yelling out, “What’s for dinner?”, please don’t underestimate the value and comfort of a voice that’s in proximity to you. I wonder: Will I settle into isolation? Will it get easier? Harder? Impossible to bear?

I am a person who considers my mental health as intact, stable as she goes. But anxiety is taking hold now, and I’m keeping a variety of toll-free numbers handy. 

The days are much easier than the nights. I am intensely grateful to live where there are many neighbors in proximity, at least. I take my near daily walk for the people and pet visuals, for the dose of Vitamin D, too. The sun sustains me like nothing else. I appreciate even a wave from six feet away at the occasional neighbor, or even someone’s puppy or dog wagging its tail. 

Neighbors’ eyes sparkle and even the wrinkles surrounding them ‘speak’ to me from above the bridge of a nose and circumference of a mask. If they are not wearing masks, I keep my distance, wave anyway, and pray they simply stay safe, too. 

I like getting into my car for the reminder of the old normal as I set about to perform only the most necessary errands. I gratefully take in the ‘hum’ and ‘sounds’ of the market, or at the pharmacy, too. Those fill the soul some, too.

When night falls, a certain fear takes hold, a sense of vulnerability that’s hard to explain. Maybe it’s when all these feelings of aloneness peak. Watching TV, binge watching especially, helps a good deal. I mourn the end of any good series! When I turn the net and TV off, though, it’s me again, and… the pockets of dark space. I’ll slog through some darkness, contemplate the dishes in the sink, but usually choose to leave them for the morning. I try to reduce the night hours by going to sleep as early as possible. Sleep is a bit of a messy affair, too, also the subject of a future post. 

I won’t venture too much here into the lack of touch or intimacy and the total weirdness of virtual dating, or rather, foregoing virtual dating, for the most part.  For reasons also best left to another column, perhaps, I will say I don’t feel this is the time to embark on new romance, either. For personal reasons, I wasn’t necessarily ready for new romance before COVID-19, and I don’t believe that has changed. If anything, those feelings are exacerbated. Still, I’ve always been in the never say never school, too. 

I don’t want pity, but compassion and understanding are great. I don’t need advice or suggestions either. Or maybe I do. I don’t know.

I understand my feelings are unique too, and not universal.  An old friend, similarly alone, is not experiencing it this way at all, and even expressed a comfort level with the isolation, so go figure. She describes herself as perhaps always having been an introvert and that somehow ‘all this’ is suiting her.  I would describe myself as more of an extrovert (although a shy one, too, in a way, as contradictory as that may sound), so perhaps we are hit a bit harder. Then again, I always loved my alone time, too, but by design. And choice. So, again, I don’t know.

I am not writing this to compare pain and painful situations. The tragedy is devastating and on some days, beyond all comprehension. The disease has hit terribly hard taking tens of thousands of lives across the country, hundreds of thousands across the world, and threatening the health of family members, roommates, as it devastates nursing home residences, in particular. Prison populations have also been horribly impacted. And so on.  Solo in my otherwise comfortable suburban pad is certainly also better than any domestically violent situation in any socio-economic circumstance.

And yet, what I want to convey, is that pain is relative, and that the pain here is real for me, too.

Human beings are largely social creatures. Our souls are tested, and I believe shrink in any prolonged isolation. I want to erase the stigma too that anyone weathering this solo is similarly feeling. I know that I’m not alone with these feelings, and that they are widespread.

And yes, yes. I am still counting my blessings to be alive and healthy. I was never going to even share these words as I worry  they may sound somewhat self indulgent or morose. But then again, if a pandemic is not the time to feel those things too, then I don’t know what is. You are welcome to search elsewhere for inspiring and uplifting right now.  I have tried to keep busy sharing all the drama and news I possibly can through this press on a most limited budget. I have plenty of work to do to make sure my 17-year-old business survives COVID-19.  I’ll overshare too that it can feel like wading through molasses. I go through all the steps I’m advised to take as a small business and wait for those to bear fruit.  And wait.  I have rooms and a garage I promised myself I could declutter now, but somehow, paralyzed to, since that feels like the ultimate solo punishment.

I write this simply to self-express (that helps me, so forgive me if my oversharing causes you any discomfort). Finally, I share also to express that I do feel empathy for everyone weathering this storm. My heart goes out to all of you, to those single and to those in semi full or very full houses (maybe we can trade places for a day?) and all your own unique challenges.  And yes, I must believe that we too can get through this, #AloneTogether, and #NewYorkTough. Or when you’re not feeling so tough sometimes, too.