Positive Athlete Magazine has named Cumberland County High School the state’s most positive athletic department for this school year.
The organization recognizes local athletes and schools across the state for an optimistic approach to sports culture. Athletic Director Blake Allen said the recognition was a culmination of hard work, and creating an atmosphere in which athletes can excel in sports with a positive attitude.
“It really shows the amount of work and effort that our coaches and our players, our teachers, our community, our admin, you know, that we all work together to try to, you know, we celebrate everything at CCHS,” Allen said. There’s been a lot to celebrate this year and it just brings me a lot of pride that our school received such a recognition.”
Allen said the school has built a culture where separate teams support each other under a unified school identity. Allen said the athletic department and faculty prioritize the success of all students, going an extra mile to help them succeed both on and off the field.
“We have really built that culture of everyone supporting each other,” Allen said. “We all want to see CCHS succeed. We all want to see the Jets succeed. We all want to see our athletes and our students cause I mean after all they are student athletes, but not just our athletes, we want to see all of our kids succeed.”
Allen said the school maintains a deep sense of tradition because many faculty members, including himself and Principal Dr. Cassie Warner, are alumni. Allen said the school has worked to move past negative moments from the past by celebrating academic successes, CTE certifications, and club achievements.
Allen said his collaboration with countywide Athletic Director Nathan Brown has helped reduce division within the community following the school system’s split years ago. Allen said establishing excitement and positivity within the building is a necessary prerequisite for athletic success.
“There’s not a lot of negative connotation going on in with our school and our athletes and things like that anymore, which I mean in the past there’s been some not great moments, but we are really put a lot of that behind us and are really pushing everything to be celebrated,” Allen said.
For Allen, positivity and motivation is not just lip service and participation trophies. He said creating an atmosphere that feels constructive allows student-athletes to win big, while representing their hometown.
“From an athletic standpoint like we’re competing for more than just the school, more than just our team we’re competing for our culture, our community, and that’s something that we really hammer down,” Allen said.
The school operates under what Allen calls the “Jet Standard,” which balances a positive environment with a focus on merit-based achievements and championships. Allen said the school recently celebrated the baseball team’s first district championship since 1962 and a singles district championship in tennis by Molly Neal.
Allen said the culture shift at the school is ongoing and invites the community to support the changes.
“It’s one thing for our kids to be on the teams because we do push for kids to be a part of things, but then once kids are a part of things we shift that focus into just being a part of something isn’t it,” Allen said. “You’ve got to give it your best and continue to work to be your best, because we do want to see winners at CCHS.”
