Stone makes impression
Northmen senior has unique sports assignment
NORTH SMITHFIELD – Olivia Stone recently took a midterm exam that didn’t assess her knowledge of the material in essay or multiple-choice form. She wasn’t asked to solve mathematical equations or provide constructive responses based on plays covered in English class.
A senior/multi-sport athlete at North Smithfield High, Stone’s midterm in compliance with her athletic department internship exemplifies the unique. It was handson – no pencils, please – where instead of memorizing the material discussed in class, she was provided the opportunity to immerse herself in a number of tasks that Northmen athletic director and internship overseer Matt Tek felt would best enable her to get something worthwhile out of this distinctive class.
“School to Career” is the official title of the year-long internship that Stone pleaded for Tek to reinstall after a couple of years of the program’s absence. Seated in Tek’s office one day last week, she described the experience as the perfect way to help her earn credits for graduation in conjunction with her interest in business and leader- ship.
Mind you Stone is no stranger to either topic – she’s attended a number of business/marketing conferences through her involvement with DECA (formerly the Distributive Education Clubs of America) and is now in her second year as president of her school’s student council.
In a nutshell, Stone is immersing herself in an endeavor that she wholeheartedly feels is providing her with a substantial leg up on the subject matter she plans to pursue in college and beyond.
Plus, it’s afforded this clearly determined and highly motivated 17-year-old the opportunity to explore ways in an effort to drum up support and create enthusiasm for Northmen athletics.
From Stone’s vantage point, why not get a leg up on what potentially awaits her down the line by enlisting in a class that is showing her the ropes by seeing firsthand the many layers that go into ensuring that athletics continue to remain a vibrant part of the high-school experience.
“I wanted to be in a position working with Mr. Tek where I could be making changes in the school and be influential by being in a position where I knew what was going on and offer the student’s point of view,” said Stone, who during her time at N.S. has participated in soccer, cross country, competitive cheerleading and lacrosse.
Sitting next to the only student that’s taking the class, Tek described Stone as having distinguished herself as a serious scholar and student leader on school grounds and beyond. That made his decision to bring back the internship that emphasizes paperwork, projects and presentations while adhering to specific deadlines a no-brainer.
“In her I saw one of the core values we try to preach here at North Smithfield, which is perseverance. She just wasn’t taking no in the beginning. She wasn’t accepting that and going away,” said Tek, noting that Stone purposely went out of her way to participate in extracurricular activities where he served as the moderator, i.e. student government.
“I could see that Olivia was involving herself in positions to try and influence change,” he said. “This kid is really angling for this and it may benefit her because of where she’s going and the direction she plans to take. This internship is something that may directly impact her future, so let’s give her the opportunity to do that.”
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Stone isn’t the first North Smithfield high schooler to take an internship under Tek’s guiding hand. Steph Bourgeois, a 2010 graduate, blazed a trail that would be followed by Kevin Woodworth (Class of 2011), Kortni O’Donnell (2012), Sam Archambault (2013), Maxx Forti (2013) and Alexis Schmidt (2013).
If she had her druthers, Stone would have joined the intern ranks much sooner than her senior year.
“It’s a small school so you know everyone. My freshman year, I got to see what they were doing. At the time they were initiating the first letterman jackets and sweaters, which I thought was cool,” recalled Stone. “One day we were on our way to Boston for a student council function and Mr. Tek was talking about them, showing me the picture and color scheme.”
Looking at what the upperclassmen were seeking to accomplish set off an alarm inside Stone’s head. She had opinions that she wished to share that if acted out accordingly could help to galvanize the student population. She just needed a platform to get her message across and for Tek to understand that she would serve as a tremendous asset in helping him circumnavigate the multitude of challenges and issues that arise as an athletic director.
“When senior year arrived, I arranged my schedule so that I could be the athletic department intern, and it’s all history from there,” Stone said with a smile.
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With Stone already well versed in North Smithfield interscholastic sports, Tek felt the best way to ease the teenager into this most-welcomed addition to her class schedule was by enacting principles commonly associated with competition.
“Inside this office, I win some battles and I lose some. There’s going to be hot streaks when everything is going well, then you’ll hit a lull when not much is happening,” said Tek. “It’s about picking yourself up after not getting something you want, which is the same aspect we try to teach our athletes. How do you get back up? You just don’t accept no. Where do we need to get better moving forward?
“You apply that philosophy in here. Every day’s not great, but it’s a people business. You’re not just dealing with intangibles,” Tek delved further. “The finer details … you have to be behind the coaches and make sure the student-athletes perform the best they can, but there’s also administrators, vendors and bus companies. You’re in constant communication and working all those relationships.”
It didn’t take Stone long to realize that interacting with different walks of school life is essential to Tek’s job. During the fall, a lot of energy and time was devoted to getting two new sports programs – outdoor track and lacrosse, both coming this spring and available for each gender – into a spin cycle that included crunching budgetary figures, attracting parental and student support, and making presentations to the North Smithfield School Committee.
Ultimately, both sports received the green light. Given the fast-paced nature of athletics, it was quickly onto the next endeavor, and the one after that.
Already running North Smithfield’s personal Twitter account, @nshnorthmen, Stone helped create an athletic-centric Twitter account, @NSInvasion, that’s served as a vehicle to drum up student support for their peers who happen to take the ice or hardwood.
“Being in this position allows me to say to some athletes that if you want people at your games, you have to reciprocate,” said Stone. “It helps get the message to them that we’re all one unit and that we need to be there for each other.”
There are other parts of Stone’s grassroots efforts that have served as a means for Tek to assign her a grade. For a boys’ hockey game last month, free T-shirts were distributed to the first 25 student attendees. Through the Captain’s Council, which Stone initiated and naturally includes the leaders of each varsity team, the goal is to initiate “Fan Bus February” where transportation and pizza is provided so students can attend select Northmen away games.
“We need to find out what makes people want to support the teams, but we want to have great fans as well,” said Stone. “We don’t want to be quiet in the stands. We want enthusiasm that’s manageable.”
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In a semester’s time, Tek has found himself becoming more and more comfortable with assigning tasks to Stone that one would think are better suited to be handled by those a bit older. Case in point, Stone has been tasked with running the spring coaches meeting.
Tek will be in the room as Stone disseminates the information, but by and large it will be her show.
“I find myself having a safety net with her. I wouldn’t assume that with most kids, but I know it’s going to get done. That’s the difference with Olivia,” said Tek. “It’s a weird feeling to have, but I don’t have to worry. That’s a huge piece.”
Looking ahead, Stone’s final exam is based on the end-of-year athletics banquet and how it’s organized and ultimately presented. Call it one final foray in a year where she’s acquired a keen understanding of what the adult world entails through athletic- centric endeavors.
Similar to her midterm, Stone’s grade won’t be based on reciting what she knows from a textbook. Naturally, she’ll be serving as the emcee before a room that includes her North Smithfield schoolmates and their parents.
“They’ll be judging me as much if not more than Mr. Tek,” said Stone, who has already heard back from five of the 10 colleges she applied to – URI, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Pittsburgh and North Carolina’s Elon University. “I love talking to groups of people and this gives me an outlet to get comfortable and have them hear what I want to say.”
Tek plans to introduce Stone and explain to the audience that the evening’s festivities is the culmination of the curriculum he’s followed whereby everything she’s seen, heard and done through an internship has already yielded several noticeable dividends with surely more on the way between now and May. He’ll then step aside and let Stone take it from there.
“She won’t represent just me. She’ll represent the entire athletic department, the athletes and the recipients of the awards. It’ll be in her hands,” said Tek, a ’96 graduate of Tolman High and the AD at North Smithfield since 2008. “I don’t know if there’s anyone who’s perfect, but she’s exceeding the standards.”