No, that wouldn't have mattered. We had a man here already on our staff that was ready to go. That played into it as well. I think the overall philosophy of the game, the things Todd wanted to do, the discipline, Mark's going to do it.

By being chosen for this program, it proves that we are on the right track and moving forward.

Our staff put some very nice items up for auction and it is great to see how the students have contributed to such an important charity.

When I was a Marine in the hospital during Vietnam, I would have died without being given blood so I know first-hand the importance of having blood available. I always donate and I am very happy to see so many of our kids donate also. We will continue to have the mobile in the future.

Each day the students were served a free breakfast that I paid for out of the principal's fund. We also told them to get a good nights sleep each night.

I feel very honored we were chosen. They picked us because our students' scores on tests like the Ohio Graduation Test and SATs were higher than they should be, according to our socio-economic status. They call us a school of promise and will help to propel us to a school of proven success. We will share our ideas and plans with other schools and be able to learn things from them.

We looked at him when he came here three years ago. This guy does an excellent job in the classroom and he'll make an excellent coach. I really listened to how he responded to questions in the interview and I was very impressed.

He's here now and we couldn't wait. The fit for the kids is sensational and I'm thrilled to have him as coach.

Our attendance rate and tardiness went down by 50 percent this week. One senior even told me he'd come to school on time each day if he could come at 11 a.m..