Ben Raymond: Inaugural Thompson Award Recipient 2006
Comments made by Ben Raymond upon receiving the first Thompson Award:
It is a great honor
Remembering Timmy Thompson to be receiving this award today. First I would like to thank some of the many people who have encouraged me and helped me in so many ways along the way. To all the great coaches and teachers that I have played for, coached with and learned from--especially Andy Strout who probably should have won this award for his thousands of years of service to the youth of this town. Andy helped me to realize the value of giving back to your community and having a career that you truly love. [Thanks to] Mrs. Petrillo who taught me what it was to be a Special Education Teacher and a woman who, even on the worst days, cared about her students as if they were her own children. [Thanks] to Mary Bruns who helped me navigate the paper trail to certification (finally), and thanks to the coaches who I most recently have worked with: Charlie Carroll, Kerry Kertes and Terry Long, all of whom have given countless hours to me and our student athletes. I also can't forget the Special Education team at the high school--even Mr. Robinson, though he is now trying to fit in those tiny chairs--who all make it an enjoyable working environment and constantly advocate for all of our students' needs. I would also like to thank the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation for doing such great work for the town of Cape Elizabeth. Most importantly, [I would like to thank] the entire Thompson family for their efforts and for the courage with which they have faced the loss of their son, Timmy. It has not gone unnoticed by Timmy's friends and family members and has helped them greatly through the grieving process. To have my name associated with the Tim Thompson Award is very special to me. There is not a day that goes by where I don't think of Timmy or something that he did to touch my life or the lives of his friends.
It is strange to me to be accepting an award for basically doing my job. I have never won an award for anything even remotely academic. This award will not end up with the other plaques and trophies proudly displayed with the thousands of pieces of sporting equipment and broken down lawn and power tools in my all too cluttered garage. Timmy and I had a very special relationship. I was his coach, teacher, and most importantly, his friend. I learned many things from Timmy, but the most important lesson I learned is not to take anything for granted. About two weeks before Timmy died, we spent about four hours together in a car driving to and from Boston. Now anyone who has driven in a car with Timmy knows that that feat in itself deserves some type of award. But during this ride we talked about everything from his excitement and nervousness about attending Bridgton Academy, soccer, lacrosse, college, what to do when he or if he grows up, his friends, who has the best pizza in town (Angelones of course), and many other things. (It was a long ride and we did this while Timmy searched radio stations endlessly, and I swore at people cutting me off). Either Timmy was very good at not letting people know things weren't going as well as they seemed or I was not a very good listener (my wife would say I am not a very good listener), but in all that time and the other times I spent with Timmy, I never grasped the severity of his suffering. Since that time I have been making much more of an effort, not just to talk to my students and athletes, but to listen more carefully to what they are really saying and making more of an effort to try, and I do mean try, to lessen the stress on them, especially the stress I may put on them, without diminishing the expectation of their best effort on a daily basis.
As I spoke at Timmy's funeral, I mentioned the top 11 Timmy things to do and stated that we should all try to do a Timmy thing each and every day. I believe that the Thompson award which, according to the letter I received,"recognizes a staff member who goes above and beyond the call of duty in reaching out to Cape’s children,” can be epitomized by the top three Timmy things. . .
- Be there for your friends all the time no matter what;
- Love your family, make them proud and give them so many great great memories;
- Laugh, joke around, smile and make sure that, in whatever you do, you have fun.
I am honored to be the first recipient of this award and look forward to seeing the award continue to grow and recognize all the other wonderful caring individuals in the Cape Elizabeth school system.
Thank you.