Cameron Jones, who is moving on to be the Assistant Principal as Russell Middle School, has worked for the Manitou Springs School District for 22 years and has been the Athletics and Activities Director for the last seven years. In his time at MSHS, he has worked hard to not only make sure that everything is running smoothly, but also that athletes’ voices are heard.
The AD is in charge of overseeing all sports and activities, including making sure that the coaches are doing the right thing, making sure everything is organized and scheduled, and making sure that any fees are paid.
The work that Jones puts in doesn’t stop when school hours are over. As the Athletic Director for both the middle school and the high school, Jones has to work within both leagues. “That’s kind of the more unique part about this job. It takes a lot to run all the programs throughout the year,” Jones said.
The middle school is a part of the Central Colorado Athletic League, for which Jones is the league president. As league president, Jones communicates with hundreds of athletic directors throughout the year about scheduling, any issues that come up, and organizing meetings once a month.
High school athletics are part of the of the Tri Peaks League, for which Jones serves as the treasurer. He is in charge of overseeing all the finances of the league, including any entry fees, purchases, officials and costs.
In his time working for MSSD, Jones has not only worked hard to make sure that everything is running smoothly, but also has had a positive impact on the people he worked with.
Georgianna Derziotis is the Athletics and Activities Administrative Assistant and works very closely with Jones. Derziotis started working at the school two years ago and believes that Jones has made a very big impact on her in that time.
“He told me right out of the gate that this was going to be a lot, but we’d work through it as a team,” Derziotis said, “He really supported me my first year. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but he was always there to say, no matter what the problem is, there’s always a solution.”
Ben Mack, the head soccer coach for the high school, has worked for the school around the same amount of time as Jones and has really appreciated Jones’s way of approaching sports. “The biggest thing that I think that Cameron has excelled at over the last 10 or 12 years has been his fairness,” Mack said.
Mack believes that Jones treated all sports equally. “He’s never favored one sport over the other, and he’s always trying to make the best compromise where everybody can be happy but it’s also fair,” Mack said.
Jones’ main goal has been to focus on the coaches and their “why” for coaching. “Coaches are using their sport or their activity to make a positive impact on a kid’s life,” Jones said. “It’s not just about teaching or coaching a sport; it’s about using the sport to change a kid’s life positively, and to help them with skills and experiences.”
Jones believes that sports are a valuable place to learn things such as how to win, how to lose, how to deal with teammates, how to deal with conflict, and what it means to work hard. “Putting coaches in front of kids that have that mindset was my objective from day one,” Jones said.
Mack believes this mindset is important. “He understands that the reason we coach is because we we love it, and we think we can teach kids through the sport about life,” Mack said. “He’s done a great job of steering us and guiding us in that alignment throughout the years to come up with a single vision and purpose, so that we’re all coaching for a slightly different reason, but we’re rowing the boat in the same direction.”
Jones understands what it’s like to be an athlete, and that those students want to have a voice and be listened to. “Sometimes as teenagers, you feel like people may not be listening to you, but Mr. Jones is listening,” Derziotis said. “He remembers little details about each different athlete, and he’s always sure to interact with them on an individual basis whenever he can.”
The methods that Jones uses to support both athletes and coaches have had an impact on the school and will be missed in the years to come. “I’ll definitely miss working next to him every day. He’s a great teammate and he’s a great team player,” Derziotis said. “He understands the bigger picture. It’s not just about winning games, it’s about the athletes too.”
