Mill Creek Middle School Teacher Receives Honor

​Cheryl Darnton is a Mill Creek Middle School teacher and cross country and track coach. Cheryl has been coaching student athletes in track and field at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter for the past 9 years, and this is her 7th year coaching student athletes in cross country at Mill Creek. She is a teacher first. In her 19-year teaching career at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter so far, she has taught social studies, English, and science.
Coach Darnton was recently honored after the Coaching Legends cross country meet on Friday, September 27 at Huron Meadows Metro Park in Brighton.
Cheryl had this to say to Dexter Guardian about receiving the Coaching Legends honor: “I was surprised to be selected for the Coaching Legends honor, to be honest. I am by no means a great coach. I am an educator who loves kids and teaching. One of the elements that I find so very rewarding about coaching cross country and track and field in Dexter is the number of kids who join our running teams at the middle school. This year we have an all-time high of over 80 kids on the cross country team. Last spring we had 200 kids on the track and field team. We have just under 600 kids in all at Mill Creek. It has been exciting to see our running programs at Mill Creek growing during my coaching involvement. As a result, the Dexter high school running teams have also experienced an increase in participation. Seventh and eighth graders join cross country and track & field because they enjoy the positive experiences they have, both physically and socially.  Some of our student athletes join because they want to have fun with their friends after school. Some join in order to try to reach their athletic goals. Some are motivated by a combination of the two. Many of them stick with it after their middle school years, adding to the chances that they will stay physically active and healthy through their lives. I believe that physical fitness increases academic achievement, and self-confidence in our young adolescents. We know that exercise and face to face connections with peers is good for humans’ mental health. My philosophy is to warmly welcome them, and they will take the risk to come out and participate. Our “no cuts“ approach makes it safe for middle school kids to explore the sport, whether they are beginning runners or competitive athletes.”
 
 

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