DALTON, Mass. — Michaela DeFoe put a whole new spin on the term "beach volleyball."

 

Earlier this fall, the Wahconah volleyball captain recruited her teammates to help her tackle a big problem in her hometown of Becket.

 

"Basically, the beach was redone a few years ago," she recalled on Friday. "They put gravel above the old beach and then a tarp and then the sand. After one one winter, it started to erode, and all the stones started to come up through the fabric."

 

DeFoe, a lifeguard at Becket Beach and a Senior Girl Scout looking for a service project for worthy of the organization's Gold Award, decided to take on the problem of removing all those stones.

 

"Basically, I really needed a lot of volunteers because we had a lot of stones to remove from the beach, so we needed a lot of people," DeFoe said. "When I brought it up to my coach, he thought it would be a good idea to ask the team.

 

"There were 30 other girls who were ready to go."

 

On Sept. 17, the Wahconah volleyball team removed 20 tons of stones from the beach, helping clear the way for greater enjoyment in summers to come.

 

On Friday, DeFoe and her teammates were honored for their service with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's Educational Achievement Award.

 

It was a double day of honors at Wahconah, as the volleyball team was joined by the girls soccer team, which was recognized with the same award for joining forces with the team from Westfield High School to march in last month's Buddy Walk to support families living with Down syndrome.

 

Rich Riley of the MIAA visited the school for a brief ceremony in the cafeteria, where he explained that the awards are key part of the MIAA's mission

 

"At the MIAA, we emphasize the role athletics plays in your education, in preparing you for life," Riley said. "I want you to know we rate these [awards] very highly.

 

"A lot of the lessons are learned in athletics, and you're going to carry those with you throughout your life."

 

Riley told the girls soccer team that he was heading to Westfield later Friday to give the award to the girls team there. The Bombers were scheduled to play at Wahconah the day of the 10th annual Buddy Walk; when the Wahconah Regional High School team asked to move the start time so its players could march, the Westfield girls decided to march with them in support of a Westfield High student with Down syndrome.

 

Wahconah Principal Aaron Robb, whose son has Down syndrome and is one of the leaders of the family support group that organizes the Buddy Walk, was on hand for Friday's ceremony.

 

"I could not be more proud of these two teams," Robb said. "We know we have strong sports teams here at Wahconah. But it's the little things — the things that no one asked you to do but you jump in and do anyway — that makes us proud, too."

 

DeFoe, who is finishing up the process of applying for the Gold Award, also could not be prouder or more impressed with her teammates.

 

"t was actually really amazing, because I didn't think we would get it done in one day," she said. "I thought it would take several days and we might actually have to go into the spring. But the fact that all these people were able to come together and get it done in a lot less time than anyone imagined was amazing.

 

"Nobody thought it would be able to happen."