Focus 3 For The Win

BY: GABBIE K.

West Jefferson High School started its first “Focus 3 Culture Meeting” on Wednesday, September 25th, 2019. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the students of the meaning and purpose of culture within their school. Teachers from each of their ‘Rider Hours’—the hour provided to the students for thirty minutes of a study hall and thirty minutes of lunch—even took the time to teach their students about the topic. Many teachers had their students involved, allowing them to write on their smart and whiteboards for example, while others led their students through the entire presentation to get a better understanding of the topic itself. Opinions of the actual topic of “Focus 3” itself were fairly diverse for the most part. Many students were not too fond of the idea. However, the majority of students appreciated learning from it.

So, what exactly is Focus 3 and how did it even start?

Founded by a man named Tim Knight, the Focus 3 team started in Southern California during the mid-80s. Knight spent his collegiate years running track for Ohio State, then transferring to UCLA afterward to run track there instead. During Knight’s time at UCLA, John Wooden, head UCLA men’s basketball coach at the time, won two national championships. It was then that Tim Knight began to wonder what it truly took to win championship games like these. Wooden won seven national championships in a row, ten during his entire twelve years as head UCLA men’s basketball coach. Surely, there was a remedy or reason as to how and why Wooden was able to win this many championships with the men he recruited. What was it that separated UCLA men’s basketball from everyone else during this time?

During his time spent at UCLA, Knight concluded that there was a fine difference between the elite athletes and average athletes. He studied the behavior and mannerisms of the elite athletes and the average ones, concluding a fine difference between the two at the end. Knight stated that elite athletes tend to have better mindsets, mannerisms, and behaviors than those that were average. The reasoning behind this was the sort of “system” that the elite athletes adapted to. These athletes had a better sense of culture and unity within their teams, rather than those that were simply just average. After observing this, Knight took it upon himself to create his own system and try to spread these ideas of going above and beyond as all elite athletes do.

Whether the system Tim Knight has created may seem beneficial or whether it doesn’t at all, the fact is that new ideas to try and help implement a sense of unity and culture to every person is being put into effect. The teachers at West Jefferson High School have discussed and talked about this same system created by Knight and tried to put it into effect as well by going off of Knight’s presentation to present it to their classes. The idea of culture being spread throughout the school will greatly benefit the students in the long run once a sense of unity is brought together by this culture. Love it or not, Focus 3 is here to stay and will take place every last Wednesday of each month at West Jefferson High School.

To find out more about the Focus 3 Culture being implemented into West Jefferson High School, visit here: https://www.focus3.com/who-we-are.