Dedicate Byron Bergen track and field to Paul Thomas

Honor the man who's dedication enhanced the lives of hundreds if not over a thousand of students at BB. Coach Paul Thomas was so important to the school for so many reasons. His hard work and dedication went beyond the running sports. As an active member of the sports boosters he worked at soccer games and helped build new dugouts for the baseball teams. He was an advocate for starting a volleyball team that went on to win state titles. He restarted the cross country program that won multiple sectional team titles, started an indoor track program that produced multiple sectional team titles, and re energized an outdoor track program that won multiple sectional team titles. In addition he coached dozens if not over a hundred individual and relay champions in his sports. Most impressively, his teams consistently were on Section 5 all academic teams. He routinely took kids who other wise would have not played sports, and turned them into champions. He routinely took troubled kids and bad students and turned them into successful students and even better people. He bought shoes for those who could not afford them, uniform when the school could not, and matching warm ups for some of you. He bought poles for vaulting, mats to land on, shot puts, discus's and built a barn to store them in.....and then had to share it with the soccer teams. most importantly, he bought Snickers. Lots and lots of Snickers. His mark will be with many of us, and we will pass on the lessons learned from him to our next generation. A man with that stature deserves, at the very least, a plaque and a dedication ceremony, along with our undying admiration. Please tell your story of how Coach Thomas influenced you and made your school days bearable.