Class takes virtual trip to Lake Placid’s Olympic Center
BH-BL High School students in Jen Wheeler’s Sports Marketing & Management classes have been learning to think like sports managers and solve problems related to the industry by focusing on event planning, scheduling, budgeting and promotion. To enhance the curriculum and introduce students to a real-world experience, Wheeler used the classroom’s Distance Learning technology to visit the Olympic Center and Museum in Lake Place.
Once they were connected they tuned in with Jim Rogers III who was a member of the 1980 Olympic Organizing Committee and played an integral role in helping bring the Olympic games to Lake Placid, and, who today is a popular Olympic Museum docent.
During a tour of the Olympic Center, Rogers shared first-hand and behind the scenes stories with the students about the details involved in winning the bid, developing the area, working through politics, adhering to environmental regulations while still meeting Olympic requirements and standards, organizing logistics (for athletes and spectators), planning opening ceremonies, and everything in between. Rogers even threw in a few history lessons and recounted memories of a few of the 1980 Olympic events, such as the unforgettable USA vs USSR hockey game!