Raising Expectations for Managing Heat and Humidity
February 19, 2013
The MHSAA Representative Council is scheduled to vote on March 22, 2013, to approve a “Model Policy for Managing Heat and Humidity” that would appear in the 2013-14 MHSAA Handbook.
The policy, patterned after a mandatory policy of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, requires that temperature and humidity readings be taken at the site of activities 30 minutes before the start of the practice or competition and again 60 minutes after the start of that activity. The readings must be recorded in writing and kept in the files of school administration. Inexpensive devices may be used that automatically calculate the “heat index.”
If the heat index is below 95 degrees, only normal precautions are required. However, readings of 95 to 99 degrees and then 100 to 104 degrees require additional precautions; and all activity must be postponed or suspended if the heat index climbs above 104 degrees.
When the air temperature is below 80 degrees, there is no combination of heat and humidity that will result in need to curtail activity.
This is being proposed as a model policy for 2013-14. The MHSAA will monitor school districts’ acceptance of this policy or adoption of similar policies before considering a mandate of this or similar policies.
The model policy will be mandatory for MHSAA tournaments.
The Western Way
September 29, 2015
When he was in elementary school, my younger son Luke often traveled with me on MHSAA business. Today, Luke is living in Shanghai, China, where he is the principal of an elementary school for Chinese children.
The parents of these Chinese children want their youngster (it’s usually an only child) educated in the western way so the child can get into a western high school and college.
Those parents want their children speaking English. But much more than that, they want their children thinking critically and creatively. And they want their children engaging in extracurricular programs that teach teamwork and leadership.
Those parents want the kind of schools we operate in Michigan. They want the kind of programs we offer here.
We educate the whole child; and the whole world wants what we do.
Not only that – unlike most of the rest of the world, we not only educate the whole child, we educate every child. Most other countries don’t even try.