At Taft, You Play by the Letter

Part of high school sports lore involves coaches and athletes finding ways to change grades when eligibility is threatened.

A top athlete learns he’s ineligible and lobbies a teacher to raise his grade if he completes extra credit. A coach appeals to a teacher to take a second look at a grade, pleading that if the athlete is declared ineligible, he might drop out of school.

Neither scenario is acceptable to Myra Fullerton, the new principal at Taft High.

At a faculty meeting last month, Fullerton informed teachers that grade changes will not be tolerated.

“What I defined is that coaches do not approach other teachers about student grades,” Fullerton said. “Students have a right to go up to a teacher to recalculate their grades. However, they have no right to go up and request a teacher to change their grade to make them eligible for athletics.”

Fullerton has an athletic background, having coached softball and served as athletic director and assistant principal in charge of athletics at Franklin High. But even though Fullerton empathizes with coaches and athletes, she is a stickler for rules.

“Rules are not written to be broken,” she said. “If you don’t like the rule, change it.”

She was at Franklin in 1987, when the school’s football team was stripped of its City 3-A title because of an ineligible player.

“Coming from a school where a grade change precipitated a loss of a title, I’m really cognizant of the consequences that can occur because of something like that,” she said.

In other words, if you have a 69 on a test and need a 70 to gain eligibility, you’re out of luck. A one-point grade change after the fact won’t be permitted at Taft.

Fullerton is determined to make sure students are not being exploited for their athletic talents.

“Our students earn their grades; teachers don’t give them grades,” she said. “That message has to be sent to our athletes. Academics is their first job. Every class they’re taking is important. The school is not going to value them more because they can shoot a basketball. We can produce young athletes who are also academia.”

Fullerton said she came to Taft because it is a “total comprehensive” high school with a “wonderful tradition of athletics.”

She intends to keep the athletic tradition intact while also taking a stand to ensure that the student is more important than any athletic victory.

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Two months ago, Nolan LeMar couldn’t turn his neck or put his left hand into his baseball glove. The Hart High senior was still recovering from second-degree burns suffered the day before Thanksgiving during a senior physics class experiment.

“All I could think of was to get back on the field,” he said.

On Tuesday, LeMar showed how far his recovery has progressed. He hit a home run against Burroughs, making him three for three this season.

“It was so great,” he said.

The wounds are still healing and he will have to load up on sunscreen to protect his skin from the sun. He’ll probably never forget the horror of invisible methanol burning on his hands.

But he’s moving on with his life, enjoying every minute of his baseball experience.

“The day you get out there, it’s such a great feeling,” he said. “I felt like gold.”

His teammates were there for him in the hospital and there for him once he got out. He’s happy to be one of the guys again.

“I try to be normal,” he said.

LeMar already is the comeback player of 1999.

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Aaron Bobik’s right wrist is slowly healing. The 15-year-old from Newbury Park High missed his entire sophomore basketball season because of a broken wrist.

But almost every day, he practices dribbling with his left hand while his injured wrist remains in a cast.

“I’m kind of grateful in a way,” he said of his injury. “It’s amazing how good my left hand has gotten.”

Bobik, who is closing in on 6 feet 3 inches, possesses lots of basketball talent. This summer, he’ll be back on the court, healthy and ready to take his place as one of the region’s top players. He’s this column’s for comeback player of the year in 2000.

* Top 10 boys’ basketball teams for 1999-2000: 1. Simi Valley, 2. Chaminade, 3. Crespi, 4. Cleveland, 5. Newbury Park, 6. Harvard-Westlake, 7. Chatsworth, 8. Crescenta Valley, 9. Oxnard, 10. Sylmar.

* Top 10 girls’ basketball teams for 1999-2000: 1. Buena, 2. Harvard-Westlake, 3. Ventura, 4. Crescenta Valley, 5. Alemany, 6. Channel Islands, 7. Simi Valley, 8. El Camino Real, 9. Canyon, 10. Cleveland.

* Impact transfer players for 1999-2000: Justin Welch of Cleveland. The 6-3 junior was the leading scorer for Schurr, averaging 18 points and 11 rebounds in Almont League play before moving into the Cleveland district last month. He’ll replace Kent Dennis as the Cavaliers’ major offensive threat.

Brandon Duplessie of St. Bonaventure. The 6-7 sophomore has applied to transfer to Crespi under open enrollment. He averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.