Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast
At Chesapeake Public Schools, we are dedicated to providing a world-class education that empowers every student to reach their full potential and discover their life's purpose. "Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast" is the official podcast of the Chesapeake Public School System, where we aim to share the stories behind our story, celebrate the spirit of learning, and connect our community through the power of audio.
Join us on this exciting podcasting journey as we delve into the heart of Chesapeake Public Schools where we will showcase the stories of students, teachers, parents, and community members who contribute to the success of our school district.
Through engaging interviews, thought-provoking discussions, and informative episodes, we will explore a wide range of topics related to education, innovation, and personal development. We will also keep you informed about upcoming events, initiatives, and opportunities within our school system.
We invite all parents, teachers, students, alumni, and community members to become part of this amazing venture. Your support, engagement, and feedback will be invaluable in shaping future episodes and ensuring that we continue to fulfill our mission of educational excellence.
Subscribe to "Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast" on your favorite podcast platforms and be ready to embark on an inspiring journey with us. Thank you for being a part of "Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast" - where we amplify the brilliance of Chesapeake Public Schools.
Visit: cpschools.com/amplified to connect and learn more!
Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast
Beyond the Scoreboard
Three extraordinary student-athletes share their journeys of balancing high-level competitive sports with academic excellence. Sophie Rambo (track), Caleb Neal (wrestling), and Jaden Dabbs (football) discuss what it takes to succeed in both arenas while maintaining focus and determination.
• Sophie Rambo from Grassfield High has won nine state titles in track and placed second at New Balance Nationals, with goals to compete in the 2028 Olympics
• Caleb Neal rom Great Bridge High is a four-time state wrestling champion who ranks 11th nationally and placed fourth at senior nationals
• Jaden Dabbs from Oscar Smith High, has won multiple state championships in football and was nationally ranked in track, now headed to Army West Point
All three emphasize the importance of time management, overcoming setbacks, and provide valuable advice for parents and students! Listen today and join us again next season for more inspiring stories from Chesapeake Public Schools!
Welcome to Amplify the Chesapeake Public Schools podcast.
Speaker 2:Chesapeake Public Schools is located in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. We proudly serve over 40,000 students in 45 schools and three centers. Join us as we share the stories behind our story by celebrating the people and programs that make us one of the premier school districts in Virginia.
Speaker 1:Hey, amplifiers, this is Matt Graham here with Chris Vail, and welcome to the final episode for season two of Amplified, the Chesapeake Public Schools podcast. We're closing things out strong with an inspiring and energetic conversation.
Speaker 2:That's right, matt. Today we're spotlighting three incredible student athletes who are excelling both on the field and in the classroom. These students balance training schedules with academic excellence, and they're doing it at the highest level.
Speaker 1:That's right. We spoke with Junior Sophie Rambo, a standout in track and field from Grassfield High, senior Caleb Neal, a dominant force on the wrestling mat at Great Bridge High, and senior Jaden Dabbs, who made major moves this season on the football field at Oscar Smith High School.
Speaker 2:Their dedication, discipline and drive will leave you inspired. So, whether you're a student, a parent, a coach or just love a good success story, this episode's for you.
Speaker 1:Yep. So join us in celebrating our high achieving athletes and wrapping up this school year with a whole lot of CPS pride.
Speaker 3:Hey, my name is Jaden Dabbs. I'm a senior at Oscar Smith and I'm active in football. Dabs, I'm a senior at Oscar Smith and I'm active in football. I'm going to Army West Point and my goal is just prepare for that and try to get on the roster. Do everything good on and off the field.
Speaker 4:Hey, I'm Caleb Neal. I'm from Great Bridge High School and I'm on the wrestling team. I'm going to Southern Illinois University, edwardsville next year and my goal is to be an NCAA All-American and hopefully crack the lineup either next year or the year after that.
Speaker 5:I'm Sophie Rambon from Grasswood High School and I'm a junior and I do track this fall. My goal is to commit to the college that feels like home to me and then after that I want to win NCAA titles, team titles. I want to go to the Olympics in 2028. So that's a big goal I have for myself. I want to be a world champion, so really just everything.
Speaker 1:And all three of you are excelling in the classroom and excelling in your respective sports, and so we're happy that you're here today to talk with us. And let's start with you, caleb. Tell me what first got you interested in your sport.
Speaker 4:My dad got me interested in wrestling when I was in about sixth grade. He had wrestled in high school so he thought it would be good for me, because I was really small in middle school and I always wanted to play football. But 90 pounds wasn't really cutting it, so I had to switch it up.
Speaker 2:All right, hey, sophie, rumor has it you were a heck of a softball player, but then somehow got into track, so you want to tell us how that happened.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I played a lot of sports growing up, but then I started playing softball, I think when I was 10. And then I started playing travel softball after a few years of playing rec, and then I started to get pretty good at it. So I kept doing it. And then in eighth grade I wanted to do a spring sport for the school and I was either going to pick volleyball or track and I decided to pick track. So I'm glad I did, because I'm here like excelling now and how did you get into track?
Speaker 2:Was it friends? Was it family?
Speaker 5:No, I was just always faster on the bases, so I just decided to do it and see where it would take me.
Speaker 2:Awesome. How about you?
Speaker 3:Jaden. My mom put me in Little League football when I was five, so I've always been playing football. And then my football coach told my mom that they should put me in track. So when I was seven I started running track. And then I've been running and playing football all the way through high school. And then my junior year I committed to Army West Point. So I decided to Army West Point. So I decided to focus on football. So I've been doing football senior year All right.
Speaker 2:So what position in football do you play? Jen, I'm safety, safety and Sophie, what events do you run in track?
Speaker 5:I'm a sprinter but sometimes I go up and I run the 800 just a little bit. I ran the 1000 one time, and indoor just to get some work in. But yeah, I'm mainly a sprinter.
Speaker 2:All right, and then Caleb, your background in wrestling this year. What weight class were you in? And maybe the previous years?
Speaker 4:One hundred seventy five pounds this year, Then junior year I was a one hundred fifty seven pounder, Sophomore year I was a one thirty eight, and freshman year I was a one twenty six.
Speaker 1:All right, so we went from 90 pounds to 175.
Speaker 4:I would say you grew, Caleb yeah a lot, so now let's take a moment.
Speaker 1:I want to hear. Our listeners want to hear some of your major accomplishments.
Speaker 3:Uh, jaden, let's start with you All right Football freshman year we won States and then my senior year just passed we won States and for track Um I went to States all four years and freshman and sophomore year passed. We won states and for track um I went to states all four years and freshman and sophomore year I was number one in country and junior year I was number three.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, so that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yep. So, jenny, you have two rings right then this outdoor I'm hoping to have three again, so I think I'm at nine. I'm at nine state titles right now. Well, it gets hard to count when you get that high. But I also hear at the national level too. What type of things have you done at the national level in placing in events?
Speaker 5:This indoor. I placed second at New Balance Nationals and that was a really big moment for me because every year before that I hadn't done so well at Nationals because of some training stuff. But we figured that part out and now I'm doing good.
Speaker 2:So second in the country at Nationals? That is amazing. All right, Caleb, how about you?
Speaker 4:I'm a four time state champ. I've won it every year since freshman year and then senior year. This year I broke into the national rankings at number 11. And then this spring I placed fourth at senior nationals. What weight did you wrestle for that one? Oh?
Speaker 2:170 pounds, 170 pounds.
Speaker 1:And then I've heard that in the state of Virginia there's, you were the 37th student to win four state titles in wrestling, so that's quite the accomplishment there, thank you and I will tell you, just sitting here, like y'all are so humble, with all these accolades, with all those things that you have mentioned, what was one of your most memorable moments things that you have mentioned.
Speaker 5:What was one of your most memorable moments? I think for me it would be last outdoor. I was at states and usually I run the 200 and 400, but I ran the 100 at states and I wasn't expecting to win. Uh, I went, I was last going into finals, so I was in, I was coming out of lane one and I was. I raced in finals and then I ended up winning. So that was a really unexpected moment and I was just proud of how I did.
Speaker 3:How about you, jaden? For track, I think it was freshman year. My stepdad woke me up. I was asleep, taking a nap and he just showed me his phone and I was the number one time in the country. That was real exciting. And then, for football, it was time in the country that was real exciting.
Speaker 1:And then, for football, those winning states this past year all the guys, all four years been with them and finally and I heard, that game was pretty amazing it came down to the, the final seconds 21 to 20.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's, that's awesome I would say a freshman year winning states. I was a big underdog going to that match and no one really thought I was going to win it, so that was really big for me breaking through and winning the first one.
Speaker 2:What has been the biggest motivation for you guys to excel and get to where you are today?
Speaker 3:Other than my parents, of course, but also all my people around me, like we're all athletes. I hang around, all athletes and we're all doing good. My brother goes to VTech D1, all my friends, a lot of offers. So we're all doing good and we're all pushing each other every day.
Speaker 2:So you surround yourself with like-minded people is huge, and I think that's big for students, right Finding those people staying away from those negative influences.
Speaker 4:I would just say keeping the teammates around me close and just hanging out with them a bunch and keep pushing me along the right path and having the right coaches in my corner definitely helps me out a lot. I'm really blessed to have the coach that I have. They have like a lot of good experience and are really good to have in my corner.
Speaker 5:I feel like everyone around me is pretty motivational to me and they all help me succeed in every way possible and, most importantly, god. He definitely keeps me focused and humble and all of the things. So without him I definitely wouldn't be doing as well as I am right now.
Speaker 2:All right. So we talked about motivation. So how about the training regiment? Because it just doesn't happen. You just can't walk in or just go to your team practices. So for those students that want to follow in your three footsteps, what do they have to do?
Speaker 5:Really just work hard, and if you want to achieve something and you have a goal in mind, then you really have to work hard for it, or else it's not going to happen, because you can dream all you want, but without the hard work you won't get there.
Speaker 4:I would say having the right diet and just your focus always on becoming the best version of yourself, making sure you're getting those extra workouts, going on the extra runs, getting an extra list and just trying to work with coaches as much as possible and just getting the best you can yeah, bouncing off what caleb said, like just going to practice isn't really enough, like you got to do the extra stuff outside.
Speaker 3:Even if you can't get with personal trainers, you can go by yourself outside work out in the mornings after practice.
Speaker 2:Well, with all that extra that you guys have to put in, we call you student athletes. How do you make it happen? How do you balance that?
Speaker 5:I balance it by having a schedule. I feel like a schedule is really important for being a student athlete Like you have to have time set aside for certain stuff. Just balancing it out and managing your time is really helpful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she said, just make sure you got everything scheduled out.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would just go along with them, just sending out that time each day to knock out that schoolwork.
Speaker 1:What happens if you have some adversity or experience a setback. Do you mind sharing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, my setbacks personally was injury, but especially for my sport, football I think that's the best time, like you can still work on like mental aspect of the game. You know it's not always just physical. So just working on that and then schoolwork to focus on that until you're able to get back into it.
Speaker 4:I would say, just keeping a short memory. You can only worry about the present. It doesn't really matter what you did in the past. So just keeping a short mind and thinking about giving your best effort each day.
Speaker 5:I say, like for me sometimes it's losing races that I should have probably won. Like he said, short term memory, like right after, right after I ran at New Balance Nationals last outdoor. I ran the 400 and I got ninth and I was not expecting that at all and it just really Was pretty hard on me and then I still had another race after that, so I had to refocus my mind and get focused on the next race. So, yeah, pretty pretty much a short-term memory and just keep moving forward and focusing on what's next on the list.
Speaker 1:Yeah, be like a goldfish.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's talk about maybe the most difficult moment you've had to get where you are today. What's something that you had to overcome, and how did you overcome it?
Speaker 5:I think the most difficult moment for me was picking track over softball. I had played softball my whole life and that was just a really hard decision to make. I wanted to do both, but I knew that in order to be really good at one I had to pick one. So just picking track it was the best decision for me, but it was a really hard decision to make.
Speaker 3:I think my most difficult. It wasn't an event, but like a time period. Like I said, all the people around me are pretty good at what they do, excelling, so, like all my friends getting offers before me and all that, so I just had to stay down and keep working and I got 10 plus offers in one month. So just keep working and don't worry about what other people have.
Speaker 4:I would say, early on freshman year and in middle school I was losing a lot more wrestling matches, so it's just really hard to keep your head up when you're losing. But I would say just staying motivated even through the losses was the hardest part for me.
Speaker 1:What has your sport taught you about yourself?
Speaker 5:I feel like it's taught me a lot of lessons, but mainly that I'm a hard worker and that I'm very determined, and it's just been great evolving in the sport. I've learned so much from my coaches and my teammates.
Speaker 3:My sports taught me you can't do it alone. You got to rely on your people next to you, in front of you, behind you. Oh, I have one common goal I got work to do. You can't do it by yourself.
Speaker 4:I'd say you just have to put the maximum effort in every day, even when you're not feeling good or even if your day's not going very well. You just need to keep going forward and keep putting in your best effort.
Speaker 1:There's no doubt that y'all are leaders on your team.
Speaker 3:So what sort of things that you do to help motivate your teammates on your practices or your meets? So I play free safety, so I'm really the quarterback of the defense, so I see everything. So if I see someone doing this or slacking or messing up or something needs to be different, I can kind of coach them up. Or if I see somebody doing good, I can tell them good job, because I really see everything.
Speaker 5:Yeah, at practice I'm usually paying attention to what everybody else is doing, making sure they're doing the right things with the right technique and form, and everything like that.
Speaker 1:Jaden, you're a senior. Caleb, you're a senior this year and graduation is coming up. Are you excited?
Speaker 4:Yeah, super excited, yeah, you ready.
Speaker 1:What advice would you give to your upcoming senior class? It doesn't have to be sport related. Just what advice would you give to your upcoming senior class? Doesn't have to be sport related. Just what advice would you give?
Speaker 3:um, don't get lazy, you're almost there. Just do your work, that's all.
Speaker 4:Do your work I would say the same thing the senioritis is real. I mean, you just gotta keep doing the work and stay there and not miss too many days.
Speaker 1:Where are you all going to miss the most? Probably about high school.
Speaker 3:Probably my friends. We all go in different places.
Speaker 4:I would say my friends and teachers, for sure.
Speaker 1:You've given some great advice about your experiences, how you've gotten here, even advice to students. What advice would you give maybe even parents of student athletes that think, all right, my kid's really interested into the sport. How can I support?
Speaker 4:them, I would say just don't put too much pressure on them, just make sure they're having fun, and that's really what matters. They'll get better as long as they're having fun and just keep the right things around, keep the right foods for them to eat, and just help them with everything they want to accomplish.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would say what he said, like support them. You know anything you can do take them to camps or make them watch the game, listen to podcasts, whatever it is, just whatever the parent can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they can listen to this one right.
Speaker 5:I think really, whatever the sport is, if the parent doesn't know much about it or wants to learn more about it, just really like learning everything they can about it in order to help their kids succeed in it.
Speaker 1:While we close out here any shout outs that you want to give anyone that has helped you along your journey.
Speaker 3:I can shout out my track coach, coach Stan. That was my coach since I was seven until now. So football coaches, all of them coached their good as him and been with me since freshman year. You know college coaches all of them from Army helped me too.
Speaker 4:I want to shout out my wrestling coaches, steve and Wayne Martin, and I want to shout out my Young Life leader, steve Rawls. He's really kept me on track spiritually throughout high school and reminded me that God loves me and died for me, no matter how I wrestle.
Speaker 5:I want to thank Coach Harper. He's gotten to me where I am today. I don't think I would accomplish any of this stuff without him coaching me and leading me and like giving me the basis of everything, because I came into the sport not really knowing anything. So he's really gotten me to where I am.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to thank y'all for coming in today and talking with us and sharing with us what it's like to be a student athlete, and a student athlete that is just doing so well in your respective sport. Not just in the sport, though, also in the classroom.
Speaker 2:You guys are definitely modeling the way for not only Chesapeake Public School students, but for students across our state on what they need to do to be successful. So thank you for everything you're doing each and every day.
Speaker 4:Yeah, thanks for having us.
Speaker 5:Thank you.
Speaker 1:We hope you enjoyed the stories behind our story on this episode of Amplify the Chesapeake Public Schools podcast. Feel free to visit us at cpschoolscom. Forward slash amplified for any questions or comments and make sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts.
