What better way to start off a new school year, in a new school, than with a new cross country team?  The inspiration for the creation of a middle school cross country team came from Jen Spaulding, a Gates parent who works in another district.  According to Gates Principal Ryan Lynch, Spaulding reached out and shared how much middle school students in her district loved cross country.  The two then worked together and wrote up a plan in the spring of 2016. They presented the plan to the Scituate School Committee for approval.  

The Gates cross country team was created in the fall of 2016, and participation is already on the rise.  Sixty students joined the first year, and more than seventy students joined this year.  Principal Lynch explained, “Students do best when they have a chance to be connected to adults and other kids, and engage in fun, healthy activities.”  

Coach O’Driscoll, Mr. English, and Mrs. Boudreau coach the team.  Lynch said he appreciates the work of the coaches, noting how O’Driscoll especially is “so positive with the students, and also challenges them to improve and have fun.”  Middle schoolers are running into a new school year, and the benefits go far beyond exercise.