This is a letter to the 2024 Ruston Bearcat football team, particularly to the seniors who have led this team through the 2024 season:
Although I am not a Bearcat by birth, coming from East Texas, high school football has been in my blood since I could walk, talk, and cheer. But unlike many Bearcat alumni, I have walked the halls of 900 Beacat Drive for far longer than 4 years, teaching those kids whom the community cheers for on Friday nights—and hundreds more besides them.
That unique perspective makes me look at this Football team a little differently. Where the community sees burly young men ready to represent their school and community, I see my young scholars, my kids. And I could not be more proud of the young scholars and young men that they are growing up to become.
Because of this team, this senior class and the classes preceding them, my 5 and 7 year old boys think football season lasts until mid-December. Because of this team, they assume that a trip to NOLA just in time for Christmas is the standard. Because of this team, they’ve been to the Superdome more times than many life-long Saints fans.
But my boys have met many of you Bearcats in my classroom as well. And because of those interactions, they believe that great athletes are also great scholars. They know that some of the best players on that football field are taking some of the most challenging classes offered at RHS. They believe that being a star athlete means taking their academics seriously.
They’ve met you all in the hallways and in the boulevard and with their friends at events in their schools and the community. And so, most importantly, they also believe that great athletes are great human beings. They believe that great athletes are kind, patient, and respectful. They believe that being a Bearcat means holding yourself to a standard of excellence on the field, in the classroom, and simply, as a person. Because of you, they want to be a great athlete and all that they believe that entails.
So right now the sting of defeat may be fresh, and we may be looking at the end of this season with disappointment and frustration, but please know that those last 48 minutes will not be your legacy as Bearcats. Your legacy will be the standard of excellence and goodness that you have instilled in the future generations of Bearcats, and that legacy is Firmly Founded.
Ashlee Bell
Ruston High School
English IV Dual Enrollment & AP Literature
