This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

St. Michael-Albertville School District Considers Honor for Coach Bauman

The Knights' premier outdoor athletic facility could soon bear legendary coach's name.

St. Michael-Albertville Coaches Association Push to Name Stadium After Beloved Former Coach

By Meghan Gutzwiller

 The St. Michael-Albertville Coach’s Association is moving forward with their goal to have the district’s football stadium at Middle School West named after former STMA teacher and football coach Earl Bauman.

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bauman coached and taught industrial technology in the district for 31 years before retiring at the end of this school year.

“It’s quite a commitment, quite an unusual period of time to be in one school district,” said superintendent-elect Dr. Jim Behle, “and he [Bauman] certainly was very successful in the football program.”

Find out what's happening in St. Michaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bauman took the Knights won a handful of conference championships, section titles and took the Knights to the championship game. 

“It is the feeling of the members that coach Bauman was instrumental in the land acquisition, design and fundraising for this stadium and should be recognized for this achievement,” Scott Berning, fellow coach’s association member, said in his address to the school board. “Coach Bauman’s 31 years of dedication to teaching and coaching have affected thousands of young men in the St. Michael and Albertville community.”

The school board had asked Behle to create a set of criteria to determine whether the district could name a public facility after an individual. Behle returned to the board with a set of nine criteria, with some examples showing that the individual:

  • Made a prominent and/or permanent contribution which is unlikely to be matched – built a program from the ground up, self-sacrifice, affect on a number of lives, outstanding/exceptional service, impact on society in general
  • Demonstrated high moral character and a record of exceptional performance.
  • Contributed in a multi-dimensional fashion, beyond service in one area
  • Reflected the entire community and the broad interest of the organization
  • Advanced the mission of the organization which is unlikely to be matched

The board approved Behle’s criteria Monday evening, then directed him to form a committee of different staff members within the district, That committee – including  a board member and a few community members – was then directed to meet, look at the guidelines and see how they would apply to the request of having the district’s football stadium named after Bauman.

Behle said he expects the committee will meet over the summer and make a determination on the matter by the start of the 2011-2012 school year.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from St. Michael