As a teacher, Sam Surowiec loves being able to see his students reach their greatest potential.
As an athlete, he cherishes similar moments for himself.
The 42-year-old Surowiec, whose left leg was amputated above the knee in 2004 because of injuries and subsequent infections from a 1996 motorcycle accident, is a member of the U.S. national team in sitting volleyball. He leaves Sunday for Hangzhou, China, and the Intercontinental Cup tournament, one of the last major international events before this summer’s 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The problem for Surowiec is that the China trip conflicts with his teaching job at Explorer Middle School in the Mukilteo School District. Surowiec, who teaches math and wood shop, is being allowed two personal-leave days plus five days of unpaid leave for a total of seven days. But he needs seven days of unpaid leave for a total of nine days to stay for the entire tournament.
He plans to participate for most of the tournament and then head home early — but if he does, team officials have said he will not be part of the U.S. team at the Sept. 7-18 Paralympic Games. “What this does,” he explained, “is take me off the roster for Rio.”
In an initial email, Surowiec said he was informed by the district “that they didn’t want to set a precedent of allowing people to take that much (unpaid) leave.”
His reaction? “I was pretty devastated,” said Surowiec, who lives in Everett. “With an experience like this, I’ll be able to communicate with kids and show kids that just because something bad happens to you doesn’t mean that world is over for you.
“Everybody has difficulties, everybody has shortcoming and everybody has obstacles that they have to overcome. But I truly feel like mine is a visual aid to say, ‘Look, I haven’t let it stop me. I’m still competing, I’m still getting what I need out of life.’ I really feel like the district could take advantage of that.
“I love my district, I truly do,” he added. “I love my school and I love the kids there … but I’m frustrated because I really feel like this could be a benefit.”
The school district declined to comment since the issue is “a personnel matter,” said Andy Muntz, the district’s manager for communications and public relations.
In five years with the U.S national team, Surowiec has traveled to Poland, Bosnia and Canada for international tournaments, but he also has missed other events because of his job.
If he was able to compete at the Paralympic Games, he says the district has been open to a possible sabbatical that would allow him to miss part of the 2016-17 school year. But that seems moot, given that neither the school district nor the national team have shown a willingness to budge from their stated positions.
Missing the chance to play in Rio de Janeiro would be hugely disappointing, Surowiec said, since from “everything I’ve heard and seen it’s just a phenomenal experience. I watched some of the London Games (on TV) and it was just awesome. So to participate in that experience would be for me probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
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