By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — As they have in the past, Staples High School booster clubs have come through with donations to fund 16 assistant coach stipends.

The $73,062 gift was approved unanimously this week by the Board of Education.

In a memo to the board, Vincent “V.J.” Sarullo, the district’s new athletic director, said participation in Staples sports programs is high, requiring supervision and security.

The money will fund three assistant baseball coaches, two assistant boys rugby coaches, six assistant boys lacrosse coaches, four assistant girls lacrosse coaches and one assistant track coach.

The stipends range from $4,575 to $3,922 per coach.

Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice said going forward, Sarullo, who started the job in March, will keep the board more appraised not only about stipend gifts, which require school board approval, but the full impact of booster club support in helping to fund equipment, uniforms and other expenses.

The idea is to give the board and community a fuller sense of the impact the booster clubs are having on school sports programs.

New ropes course at Staples praised

The board on Monday also got an update from three Staples students about the impact of a new $63,000 ropes course purchased using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Students Katie Rodrigues, Mieszko Solowinski and Kate Weitz all gave high marks to the challenge course, which is offered to sophomores.

Chris Wanner, the district’s health and physical education coordinator, said that three Staples teachers have been trained in how to teach the well-used series of ground and aerial ropes, cables, weights and pulleys. The system has both an indoor and outdoor component.

Students learn more than overcoming a fear of heights. They learn to interact, help each other out and encourage each other.

Rodrigues said the course forced students to interact and talk with classmates they normally don’t encounter.

“It helped us bond,” said Weitz.

They said it’s pretty cool to tackle an obstacle course in the middle of the school day.

Solowinski said he looked forward to taking on the ropes course when he first saw it.

“I feel like it was like little bubbles that merged together … to get through the challenges,” Solowinski said. “Comfortable and uncomfortable.”

Despite being suspended 20 feet off the ground at times, Solowinski said he never felt unsafe.

The students likened the ropes course to the school’s Connections Class, a twice-weekly advisory group all students are assigned to throughout their four years at Staples.

Before use of the course can be expanded to students in other grades, more teachers will have to receive training, Wanner said.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.