Jeffrey Betz is a middle school teacher, (grades 6,7 and 8), from Lockport, New York, who likes to give his students more than just what can be found in a book.
 

He enjoys contacting athletes who are from Lockport, or surrounding areas, and are either pros or inspiring to be a professional athlete.
 

One of those players is Sarnia Sting defenceman Joe Rogalski.
 

Rogalski grew up 25 minutes south of Lockport in Lancaster. In fact Rogalski's family lives only a mile from where Betz and is wife currently reside.
 

After many phone calls and e-mails, Betz and Rogalski finally met face-to-face before a Sting game in Erie against the Otters last weekend.
 

"I guess the class projects started in hockey because we are so close to the Buffalo Sabres," said the 35-year-old Betz in an interview. "We try and find Sabres prospects who are playing junior hockey or going to college. We then contact the players through their respective them and give them a questionnaire to fill out.
 

"The whole idea is to give my students the opportunity to correspond with the athletes to find out a number of things, but most important how hard they need to work to become a pro. Most of them have no idea of what it takes to be a professional athlete. One of the important things we try and learn about is the character of a player and how he deals with life in his respective sport."
 

Betz, who had seen just one Ontario Hockey League game prior to the Sting-Erie match, said Rogalski was just what he was looking for in a class project.
 

"Joe is a local kid playing in the OHL. We haven't had a lot of success with players from the area making the OHL. The students were impressed with the fact Joe has been ranked in the upcoming National Hockey League draft (142nd for North American skaters) and the fact he will represent the Sting next month at the OHL all-star game."

He added, "we have some students who play minor hockey here in Lockport, so they were really interested in Joe and his progress in the OHL."
 

Rogalski is now into his third OHL season. He leads all Sting defencemen in scoring with four goals and 16 assists.

Betaz explained how the process took place.
 

"I first contacted Sting owner Larry Ciccarelli. He put me onto Greg Burr from the Sting marketing department. Mr. Burr was very helpful with a number of ideas and suggestions. It just kind of went from there."
 

Betz says his students a number of interesting questions.
 

"Many didn't know how a player like Joe got to the OHL, how long he stays there and what he hopes to accomplish in hockey. They asked about his hobbies, interests, what music he likes and what he does in his free time. Many of my kids didn't realize that Joe not only plays, but also attends school on a regular basis. "
 

Rogalski, who is soft-spoken at the best of times, was happy to meet Betz before the game in Erie.

"What these students did for a project was pretty cool," said Rogalski. "Nobody has done that before where I have been involved. It was neat to tell them what Sarnia is like and the passion the fans have for hockey. Obviously it's different than from where I live. They know one of my goals is to someday play in the NHL, but they needed to be educated on how hard it is to get there."
 

Betz plays hockey in a recreational league in Lockport. He says having a player from his area playing in an elite league like the OHL, gives him lots to talk about in the dressing room.
 

And there is now a permanent symbol of his students project with Rogalski and the Sting. Betz was presented with a Sting jersey autographed by the entire team.
 

"I'm going to hang this up in our class room," said Betz, who has been teaching for close to 15 years. "We have some other jerseys up as well, but this is the first one from the OHL. Joe did a great job and I want to thank the Sting organization for making it all possible."
 

Sting head coach and general manager Dave MacQueen loved the project.
 

"I think it was a great idea by the teacher to use an athlete, especially a local one like Joe to motivate his class and to show this can happen or a person can realize their dream with a lot of hard work. It's always nice for someone in your hometown to recognize the ability of a player and be able to track is development. We in Ontario take it for granted when it comes to someone playing in a co-called hockey environment. That’s not the case with Joe."
 

He added, "for Joe to take part is a very important part of his development as player and a person. This kind of thing is just like when we try and get our players out to schools and other events in Sarnia. It's all part of developing a player for the pros."
 

STING NOTES

- Sarnia returns to action Thursday night when they host the Guelph Storm at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre. It's the first of meeting between the two teams this season. They play three more times. Tonight is also the start of three games in three nights for the Sting as they will also be home on Friday night to the Niagara IceDogs while they travel to Owen Sound on Saturday night to face-off against the Attack.

The Sting will be out to snap their current losing streak.

"If I had all the answers, we wouldn't be in this situation," said MacQueen. "Right now we are trying to keep the players upbeat and as positive as we can and now dwell on the negatives. Hopefully at some point we are going to get rewarded for our efforts. Right now we have 15 or 16 players going, we now need to the other three or four to compete just as hard."

MacQueen added, "it's like walking a tightrope. You don't want to beat them up, but you have to make them aware we are not satisfied with just being close. Our job is to get rid of that mindset. We need to find ways to win instead of finding ways to lose."

-          Defencemen Daniel Broussard and Brent Sullivan remain sidelined with injuries. Rookie forward J.C. Campagna returned home to Ohio this week due to the death of his grandmother.

-          Guelph’s first round draft pick in 2009 was Carter Sandlak, the oldest son of ex-Sting assistant coach Jim Sandlak.