Superintendent of
Perry Township Schools
Perry Township Schools’ primary focus is to provide an educational experience that prepares children to pursue their hopes, dreams and aspirations. While classroom instruction is critically important, there are many other facets of the school experience that support daily instructional lessons.
Extracurricular programs, such as athletics, play a key role in many of our students’ lives. Our athletic programs provide opportunities for students to participate in organized sports, receive recognition, build relationships and develop life skills. We are fortunate to have well-established programs that promote school spirit.
While we have a number of successful programs, I would like to highlight two at the high school level: Southport’s undefeated boys basketball team, which won the Hall of Fame Classic, and Perry Meridian’s wrestling team, this season’s state runner-up and winners of 10 straight Marion County tournaments.
Every successful athletic program has two key components: a coach who has a passion for the sport and parents who are supportive and involved.
The following are some comments from the outstanding coaches of the aforementioned teams:
• Kyle Simpson, Southport basketball coach. “I am a coach for two reasons: Number 1: I love the game of basketball. It has been a big part of my life in high school and college. When I was playing in college I knew I wanted to continue my career as a coach. Number 2: I appreciate the impact coaches can make on the lives of our student athletes.
“In my family I’m a third- generation basketball coach. My grandfather coached for 40 years in high school and college, and my father coached high school for 17 years. I saw the impact they had on their players and how much they helped them in their lives. I wanted to follow in their footsteps.
“I stress to our athletes the fact that they represent themselves and their school – on and off the court. There is a big picture called LIFE that we, as coaches, are preparing our student-athletes for. I believe that we have a basketball program that can make Perry Township proud.”
• Jimmy Tonte, Perry Meridian wrestling coach. “Here at Perry Meridian High School we consider our program to be much like a family – ‘the wrestling family.’ We strive for our family to live in a house that has a strong foundation built from the bottom up, in which we strive to be our best at each level: elementary, middle, high school and even college.
“To live in our house, we expect our wrestlers to attain good grades, to excel in citizenship by displaying upstanding character within our community and to develop a work ethic that is second to none. We often use the phrase ‘be a good kid, be a good student.’
“We believe we can make a huge impact on a young man by furthering his education through the wrestling program. We currently have 11 kids wrestling in college. Three more that are seniors have signed near full scholarships for next year.
“Bottom line, no matter how many championships we win, ultimately, we do this for the kids.”
As the winter sports season continues, I would like to invite you to attend one or more of our athletic events so you can see for yourself the effort, discipline and teamwork of these young athletes.