LA wildfires: Mr. Martinez reflects on the impact on after school activities like SRLA
By Kimberly B.
Mr. Martinez is 9th grade English teacher, Leadership teacher, and a coach for Diego Rivera’s SRLA team.
During this time of the wildfires, what were your initial thoughts when coming to school during the bad air quality?
Oh man, I hated it. I was like, I don’t know why we’re coming to school. Something similar happened when I was in high school, when there was fires, and you could literally see the ash come down and I remember breathing that in and having coughs, and it sucked. I was like, I don’t know why we’re going to school right now. We should be home with an air purifier on, like, it’s just ridiculous. So I hated it coming to school and obviously was out because of that. I got bad cases of dry coughs and then I got sick and all together, like, I almost got pneumonia because of it, so, yeah… I hated it.
What was your biggest worry when they canceled the Rose Bowl Half Marathon? Why?
My biggest worry was just the training that students get. I’m glad they canceled it, to be honest. But, obviously we use that as a way to kind of prepare for the marathon. And, you know, they always say every run that you do, try to run longer. But, that was my only worry. Besides that I am glad they canceled it.
When Superintendent Carvalho limited outdoor activities, what were your initial thoughts for the SRLA team?
Well, like I said, I’m glad that all activities were canceled. We should not be running in that kind of environment. So honestly, I don’t have a problem with Carvalho canceling it. I’m glad he did. The only thing I’m worrying about is us trying to keep up and trying to catch up with the run, trying to prepare ourselves for the marathon, so we just have to push ourselves.
What types of challenges have you faced when rescheduling practices with other coaches on the team due to the wildfires? How do you handle that decision?
Oh man, we have a text thread, so they were just like, oh, we are going to cancel it. And Beltran is trying to catch up with all the students. Like, she’s trying to get them to practice more. So I’m very grateful. Like this Saturday were are going to have our practice, so we’re going to be doing our Half Marathon. So it was easy Ms. Beltran and Monteon are on the same page, we’re on the same page in terms of like, if there’s a wildfire , we want our kids to be safe. Like again, we shouldn’t be running in that environment, and shouldn’t be running in those conditions.
What strategies have you used to ensure the safety of your athletes during this time ?
Right now, um, I haven’t been to practice as of late because I’m still recovering from an illness. But I know Ms. Beltran is taking it easy, we are not pushing ourselves. I know on Friday, she did a quick 40 minute run, which isn’t bad, you know, it is actually really good to get back into it. We didn’t set up a “you had to do 5 miles , you had to do ten”. No , it was just like “run for 40 minutes”, it was as much as you can. Just to get your body back into it, to get your lungs working.
In your opinion, what more could have been done by the SRLA organization to help coaches and teams better prepare for future races?
Having an option to do virtually, right? I know, um I don’t know if Ms. Beltran mentioned it, but I know she was telling us that they were having a virtual run to kind of makeup for the half marathon that was missed, but SRLA should have something prepared for this, like having a virtual run, just in case. Nowadays that’s what everybody is doing.
What has been the most effective way to keep your team informed and prepared for future races?
I love the Remind App, I think it’s a very useful tool. I’m thankful for Kevin [Team Captain] kind of talking to all the team. Everybody is kind of talking to each other, that helps out. So yeah, the Remind app is the biggest thing that I’m very appreciative of.
