If you want to see some of the benefits of athletics and activities — beyond the thrill of hitting a 3-pointer on the basketball court or a high-note at a concert — just look at the numbers.

During an average week last year, 102 Powell High School students had an F in one of their classes. Of that total, 94 of the students failing a class were not participating in any sport or activity; only eight of the Fs belonged to students who were involved in an extracurricular activity at the time.

In other words, despite being the larger group by a wide margin, the students involved in activities accounted for only a small fraction of the failing grades.

“Students who are involved in something, it’s almost like their reason to engage in school,” said Jay Curtis, superintendent of Park County School District No. 1. “A lot of times, if they’re not involved in anything, it is a sign of disconnectedness.”

Involvement in extracurriculars “gives kids a positive connection to school,” said PHS Principal Tim Wormald.

“For a lot of kids, being in an activity or a sport is their primary connection, and that allows them to do well in their classes — it’s kind of the motivation for some kids,” he said.

Beyond the numbers at PHS, Wormald said “the data is pretty clear that students involved, by and large, perform better in school.”

Studies also support the idea that those students do better in life after high school, as they tend to report having a higher quality of life and better relationships.

“There’s a lot of personal attributes that kids develop when they’re involved that carry on through college and careers and life — how to work with other people, how to problem solve, how to organize and keep up with your responsibilities,” Wormald said.

PHS coaches and club sponsors do “a great job” of keeping track of students during their seasons, he said, as they make sure kids are meeting eligibility and attendance requirements.

Students with one F can still participate with a team or club, but cannot if they’re failing two or more classes.

“Students really have to meet some expectations there,” he said. “So while we try to extend those to other students, it’s not quite as intentional, not quite the amount of pressure, you might say, from a coach or sponsor.”

Activities and athletics also give students an opportunity to belong to something bigger than themselves, he said.

At Powell High School, 74 percent of students participated in a sport or activity — such as FFA, robotics, student council, speech, SkillsUSA — last year. That number has fluctuated over the years, reaching a height of 82 percent in 2014-15 and then staying in the 70s in the past few years.

Powell’s participation rate has stayed above the state average, which has varied between about 64 and 68 percent.

Local school leaders want to see participation rates increase.

“I would like to see 100 percent of our students involved in at least one activity while they’re here,” Wormald said. “I think it’s good for them; it’s good for our school.”

Sports aren’t for everyone, “but I believe we have something for every kid,” Wormald said. “I think a kid can get involved with something here and have a positive experience and be around a positive group of people, and I think they are going to benefit from that.”

Powell educators will continue to encourage kids at PHS and Powell Middle School to get involved in an extracurricular this school year (see related story below).

The message to try something new and get involved is highlighted to incoming students at the beginning of the school year, Wormald said.

“Students who aren’t involved in anything will probably be contacted by us in some way, whether it’s by a counselor or by an administrator, to try to get them plugged in somewhere,” Superintendent Curtis said. “The level of participation speaks to not just their grades, but their sense of belonging to school.”

Curtis noted that the school district’s data on extracurricular involvement doesn’t take into consideration students who are involved in activities in the community, such as rodeo, hockey, USA swimming, softball, 4-H or church groups.

For students who must work, it can be difficult to get involved in an extracurricular activity, Wormald noted.

“If they don’t have a connection through school, it is important to have some kind of connection in the community, through church or whatever that may be,” he said. “When kids belong to a group, it is a positive thing for them.”

Powell Middle School: Four out of five students in an extracurricular

At Powell Middle School, extracurricular participation is strong, with 85 percent of eighth-graders participating in at least one sport last year. For seventh-graders, that number is 80 percent.

“We’ve got numbers,” said Chanler Buck, assistant principal and activities director. “We have a very large enrollment at the middle school, and we’ve got a lot of kids participating, but there is, what I feel is, a significant percentage remaining that needs to be involved.”

The middle school surveyed students last spring, specifically asking those who weren’t involved to provide a reason why — not interested, live out of town, too busy outside of school, etc.

A majority of those students were involved in a sport or club in the community, such as 4-H, church groups or soccer.

“If a student does belong to something bigger than themselves outside of school, that’s pretty important,” Buck said.

He said some of those activities — such as rodeo, hockey and soccer — are not offered at the middle school and maybe can’t be offered.

But the middle school wants to “make sure that we’re meeting the needs of this generation, that we’re catching the interest of all of our kids,” Buck said.

“If we can offer it, we’ll try to,” he said.

Buck cited the research that shows how extracurricular involvement correlates with academic success and social-emotional wellbeing.

“A lot of the kids that are involved and do have a strong personal interest in activities or athletics, that’s what’s keeping them there, keeping them eligible and keeping them going,” he said.

The middle school wants to catch those kids who aren’t participating.

“Almost 100 percent of those who aren’t involved are probably not doing very well in the classroom,” Buck said.

Using information from the survey and individual conversations, Buck said they want to identify the reasons students aren’t participating and communicate with those families.

For the coming school year, the goal is to have 90 percent of students participating in extracurricular activities at Powell Middle School and/or opportunities within the community.

To accommodate higher numbers this past school year, additional coaches were hired in nearly every middle school sport (the exceptions were football and eighth-grade girls basketball).

“We’re not going to cut kids — we are going to keep them involved,” Buck said. “That is going to support the high school programs, but more importantly, it is going to support those kids and their families.”