LAWRENCE: Team rallies for its coach

Softball players want Harrigan

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   Four members of the Lawrence High School softball team appealed to the Lawrence Township Board of Education last week to save their coach’s job after school district administrators decided not to renew her contract.
   Tara Harrigan, who teaches physical education at Lawrence High School, was hired in January 2011 to fill the vacancy created after long-time physical education teacher Len Weister retired. She earns $53,225.
   The students, who approached the school board at its May 14 meeting, said they realized that the school board’s decision may be final, but they asked that the board members listen to them not just as students but as softball team members.
   Catie MacDuff, speaking for herself and her teammates, told the school board that “if you had asked me three days ago what it meant to be a teacher, I would have given you the simplest and most accurate definition.”
   The LHS senior said a teacher is someone who points out a student’s potential and who challenges a student with new ideas and beliefs. A teacher is someone who nourishes a student’s dreams and pushes a student to achieve more, strive for greatness and never to settle for the ordinary, she said. A teacher is Tara Harrington, she said.
   ”If you had asked me three days ago what it meant to be a coach, I would have given you the simplest and most accurate definition. A coach is someone who can take a group of 12 girls who have only ever been told that they can aspire to mediocrity and inspire those same girls into believing in themselves, each other and the game they love,” Catie said.
   ”A coach is someone who never gives up on you. A coach becomes your confidant, your mentor, your teacher and your role model. A coach is Tara Harrington,” she said.
   Catie said the softball team members have been playing together since they were young children, and this marks their sixth year playing for the school district. But never have they had a coach such as Tara Harrington, she said.
   For the first two years of their high school careers, the girls softball team had not been treated with respect, she said. The coaches did not believe in them, nor did the high school nor the girls themselves, she said. It wasn’t difficult, since “there (was) no one to make you believe,” she said, adding that the team members were often mocked and disciplined for lack of achievement by the coaches.
   But Coach Harrington changed all of that, Catie said, pushing the team to perform to the best of its abilities and leading the girls softball team to its first state tournament championship game in more than three years after several losing seasons.
   ”Coach Tara Harrington is the greatest teacher we have ever had,” she said. “She may be a gym teacher in theory but in practice, she teaches us more than walleyball. She teaches us what it means to have character and integrity. She teaches us what it means to be patient, kind and to always look for the person who needs a little encouragement to discover their greatness.”
   Coach Harrigan is not like many other teachers at the high school, who do the bare minimum, Catie said. Being a teacher is one of the hardest — yet most rewarding — jobs there are, but Coach Harrigan does not complain, she said.
   ”Tara Harrington is a teacher because it is her calling — because it is the most important job in the world and because she has what it takes to make you want to be a better version of yourself. To let go of Ms. Harrington would be to let go of a teacher who not only does her job, but does it well,” Catie said.
   The girls also called on the school board to keep Coach Harrington because she has built the foundation of the Lawrence High School softball program. It is not possible to expect to have a winning and motivated team when there is a new coach every year, they said.
   Letting go of Coach Harrington will spell disaster for the softball team, Catie said. The coach took 12 players and made 12 teammates, 12 friends, 12 sisters and 12 believers — in themselves, in the game of softball, in each other and in their abilities, she said.
   Alyssa Aloyo reinforced the message, adding that the job of a teacher extends beyond the classroom. Coach Harrigan has taught the girls morals, character and drive, she said, adding that the coach tells every student what he or she is capable of doing in school and in life.
   Noting that Coach Harrington has demonstrated that she is a problem-solver, Alyssa said she has been inspired by the coach to overcome many obstacles that she has faced.
   School board President Laura Waters said that while the students spoke well and made a good presentation, the school board is not allowed to comment on personnel matters publicly. But the school board heard the team members, and “I think we all want the same thing,” she said.