Dave Shoemaker
Contributing columnist
Back when I was the Athletic Director at our school, I had several students who regularly worked for me, doing things like taking tickets at games, running errands during the school day, just performing tasks that I didn’t really have time for. These kids were called my “AD Aides” and I really couldn’t have done my job without them.
Many times I’d ask one of these kids to go do something with very little instruction, and they’d ask me how they were supposed to complete the task. My response was always this:
“Be resourceful.”
I did this partly because I didn’t have time to go into detail about what I wanted them to do, and partly because I knew I was teaching them to think independently and to complete tasks entirely on their own.
On a related note, you really had to be a special kind of student to work for me. It wasn’t always easy.
That said, I had some great aides. I won’t go into detail, but they know who they are.
And then there was Sara.
Sara was a girl who, although she worked for me in the Athletic Department, wasn’t athletic at all. She was overweight and had some pretty serious health issues, even back in high school.
Sara was as loyal as any kid I ever taught or coached. She had a big heart and saw the best in everyone. She worked for me during the day at school, and after school during games. Like I said, she had some serious health issues but never, ever let it slow her down. She simply loved helping out the athletic teams at our school any way she could. Sara helped at all my events doing all sorts of things – concessions, ticket taker, virtually every job I had as Athletic Director.
Sara was willing to do anything to help out.
Some days you could tell she was tired, but never once did she complain to me. She was just so happy to be a part of the athletic department at our school, and I was thrilled to have her as an assistant.
Everybody knew Sara, all the athletes, parents, teachers and fans, and she always greeted them with a smile. She was a great representative for our school.
After Sara graduated, she still came back to help out when she could. After I’d resigned as AD and returned as the head basketball coach, I was having trouble getting workers for our specified night to help with concessions at a football game. I sent out a request on Facebook for help, and guess who was the first to respond and lend me a hand?
Yep. Sara, even though she was clearly not feeling well.
At the end of the evening that night, after the game, most of the people were gone and Sara and I just sat and talked as she was waiting for her ride home. She told me that some of the best moments of her life were working for me when I was Athletic Director. She told me how much she looked forward to the games and the opportunities to meet and talk to new people.
It made me realize that sometimes, the best moments for some are right here at school, doing things that many of us sometimes find boring or mundane. For Sara, school and, in particular, the athletic complex was a place of refuge, a place to shine, even to cherish.
Sara died on March 27, 2015. She was only 32.
Shortly thereafter I received a message from her brother Michael. It seems that, before she passed, Sara had requested that her ashes be spread somewhere over the Paint Valley Athletic Complex. He asked if it would be possible to grant her wish.
And one day awhile after, on a quiet, beautiful Saturday afternoon, we did just that. As I looked on, Michael and mother Terri laid Sara to rest over an area near and dear to Sara’s heart.
And it was exactly where she wanted to be.
Dave Shoemaker is a retired teacher, athletic director and basketball coach with most of his professional years spent at Paint Valley. He also served as the national basketball coach for the island country of Montserrat in the British West Indies. He lives in Southern Ohio with his best friends and companions, his dogs Sweet Lilly and Hank. He can be reached at https://shoeuntied.wordpress.com/.
