Coaches unite, Groton Project is ‘off and running’

There is a new and exciting adventure “afoot” in Groton, and although it involves cross-country, track and field and three coaches of different levels of these sports, it is not like anything our town has seen before.

Its name is Groton Project (GP), and it is open to anyone who is a Groton resident of any age or ability level. It offers coaching, a focus on wellness and the camaraderie that comes with being involved — all free of charge to its participants.

It all started with a vision that Groton Central School’s (GCS) health teacher and cross-country and track-and-field coach, Scott Weeks, began to formulate in his mind this past summer, and by September, it had become a reality.

As it happened, also this past summer, GCS was awarded a 21st Century Learning Center grant. The theme of the grant is STEALTH, which is STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) with the addition of health. Under the grant, there are opportunities for the school to build programming for students and the community outside of the school day.

Monica Dykeman, who is the project coordinator for the grant, was delighted to learn of Weeks’s idea for GP.

“Scott’s idea of Groton Project fit in perfectly with our STEALTH concept,” Dykeman said. “As he described his vision, it became clear that this could be a community movement that opened up running, track and wellness to our students and their families.”

Dykeman added that “the idea of the multigenerational approach is unique.”

“Having elementary school students learning from varsity athletes alongside adults is exactly the type of program we are looking to create,” she said. “I look forward to attending a local 5K where our Groton Project participants can cheer each other on. I think it’s an exciting concept that many people will want to be a part of! Under the terms of the grant, all of the Groton community can join this program.”

Weeks has taught and coached at GCS for the past 28 years. He is a 1990 GCS alum himself, as is his wife, Jessica (1993). Groton has always been their home, and they now have two up-and-coming GCS grads — their son, Tristan (grade nine), and daughter, Madelyn (grade six).

As circumstances would have it, Scott made the acquaintance of the two other coaches now involved in GP just this past summer, and they all have running and families in common.

Simon Moll grew up in Australia and came to the area to earn his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 2005. He met his wife, Monica, there and married her in 2006. While they initially lived in Lansing, they moved to Groton in November 2021.

“I grew up in the small town of Tanunda, and my extended family were all farmers,” Simon explained. “I have always wanted to live in a small town and have farmland too, so now we have 35 acres here that will be a self-sustaining homestead for us.”

Simon’s children, Liesl (grade five) and Oliver (grade three), attended the Groton Recreation (GR) summer camp, and when Simon realized the GR’s fall cross-country program needed a coach, he felt compelled to volunteer, as he was already a private running coach for adults.

Simon ran the Lansing Lighthouse 5K this past August, which he incidentally won with a time of 17:02, and that was where he met Scott, who had gone to cheer on some Groton students who were running it.

From there, Simon ran in the Groton Labor Day 5K, which Scott has put on for decades. He also helped Scott with the Groton Olde Home Days run prior to the Grand Parade, and they had numerous conversations about starting GP.

“It’s hard to find cross-country coaches who are good at running and good with kids,” Scott said. “Jeff Cronk did a phenomenal job for years with the program, both coaching and inspiring young kids, but COVID put a damper on it and he had to step down.”

And that is the segue into the third coach for GP — Josh Plumeau, whose wife, Kayleigh, had helped Cronk with the program when he was running it.

Josh and Kayleigh are both avid runners. They grew up in Dryden but made their home in Groton in August 2008. They now have three children: Ryan (grade one), Owen (age 3) and Gavin, who is 8 months old.

When Kayleigh realized coaches were needed for the GR program, she suggested that Josh get involved.

“We’d decided that we want to be more active in the local community,” Josh said. “And this seemed like a great way to do so. Then, because of my coaching involvement with the rec department, Scott, who is a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm, sucked me into the Groton Project.”

So, Simon and Josh were both coaching the GR program together. They were expecting that maybe 10 to 15 students would participate, but 25 third to sixth graders came to the first practice, and by the end, they had 33.

“I would go and watch them run,” Scott said. “And what I saw was kids loving running, parents and kids so excited and so much energy. Parents wanted more for their kids. We sponsored a race for them and invited all section-four schools. We had 50 or 60 kids there.”

Simon said they took the Groton runners to a couple of other races, and the parents were telling him that their kids were signing up for races everywhere they could.

“Six of our kids — Alison Belcher, Lauren Belcher, Jace Hovey, Levi Hovey, Truth Snyder and Catriona Williams — even went to the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic Cross-Country qualifiers, and all six qualified for nationals in Texas!” Simon said.

Sadly, race fees and travel costs were prohibitive for those students to go to nationals, which is another reason that the coaches are so thrilled that the grant will make running competitively for GP participants possible.

Scott, Simon and Josh are all delighted at how many have already discovered that GP exists and encourage anyone and everyone in Groton to come and join in.

“We bought 100 shirts for the group,” Scott said. “And we’re so thrilled that the logo was designed by our own sixth-grade student, Mitch (Morgan) Hlywa. I am excited to be providing this opportunity to kids, varsity athletes and adults to develop lifelong wellness.”

Simon shared his thoughts.

“We want everyone to know there are no barriers,” Simon said. “Because of the grant, there is no cost, so come and see how much fun it is. We’re going to have our own tent with the logo on it to take to races. The camaraderie when you do these things together is wonderful.”

Josh added that “running is a great way to get active.”

“It’s also a good way to bring the community together,” he said. “I’d love to see 100 or more Groton locals coming out to run, support one another and build more community spirit. I’d also love to see us raise up a young generation of kids who learn to value fitness and community as natural parts of their lives, whether they stay close to home as they grow up or head out into the wider world.”

If anyone in the community is unsure of whether to join, Josh said, “Give it a shot.”

“There is no judgment,” he said. “There’s no requirement to be a fast runner (I’m certainly not) or to be able to run far. We want people of all ages and abilities to come together for the Groton Project!”

For another glimpse of Groton Project, visit its Facebook page at tinyurl.com/2flqk7ol. For questions and schedules, contact Scott at sweeks@groton.cnyric.org or (607) 423-1511.

Groton on the Inside appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.

In brief:

Christmas cards for nursing home

The Groton Family Dollar has Christmas cards for anyone to take home to color for the residents of Groton Nursing Home. Stop by Family Dollar and pick up a Christmas card to color and return to Family Dollar by Dec. 18 so they can attach a candy cane and deliver in time for Christmas.

Dickens drive-thru

Back by popular demand, the Groton Jr./Sr. High School’s drama, music and art clubs will present “A Dickens Drive-Thru,” inspired by Charles Dickens’s novel and movie, “A Christmas Carol,” on Dec. 20 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Enter the high school parking lot via the Corona Avenue entrance any time during the time slot to experience the different stations of enacted scenes.

Santa to visit Scottland Lights

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be arriving at Scottland Lights, 411 Peru Rd., to greet everyone and hand out candy canes, from 7 to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Come and have your picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

To experience the incredible Scottland Lights show, pull your vehicle off to the side of the road, tune your car radio in to 89.7 on the FM dial, relax and enjoy, but please don’t block any driveways. The show began running daily the day after Thanksgiving; it starts at 5 p.m. and loops until 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

As a reminder, there is a collection box on site for monetary donations to support the Groton Fire Department. They are also selling T-shirts, with profits also going to the department.