Article Photos

As an assistant coach with the WNBA's New York Liberty, Jeff House worked with superstar basketball player Rebecca Lobo on a daily basis.

Tuesday, House worked with a group of more than 500 Lobos - addressing the student body of Washington Middle School about its ''Lobo Way'' character education program.

A 1983 graduate of Southwestern Central School, House returned to Jamestown to address students he said fit the description of where he was 30 years earlier.

''I'm from Jamestown - I grew up here, and spent all my young life here,'' he said. ''People who have sat where you sat can provide some insight on not limiting yourself.''

House said he made a lot of mistakes in his youth growing up in West Ellicott, thinking he could get away with mischief and not doing his best because he was a talented athlete.

''I made some bad choices, choices that in high school got me thrown off our football team,'' he said. ''All I really cared about was doing enough in school to get by, to get C's, so that I could play football, basketball and baseball. ... Those things then, and now, can cause a lot of problems.''

The speaker warned students, though, that their mistakes can have a much more damaging effect on their future that his did. In the 1970s and early '80s, they went away - but when they are posted on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace, mistakes can have a lasting effect that can be difficult to shake.

''The bad choices I made didn't end up all over the world,'' he said, adding that one of his duties when working with the women's basketball program at the University of Virginia was to monitor athletes' Facebook and MySpace pages to ensure they weren't posting incriminating material.

House's appearance at Washington on Tuesday was arranged by the school's Character Education Committee, which aims to help students strive for a high level of success, behavior and responsibility through its ''Lobo Way'' creed.

''We try to get into the classrooms and talk about this type of thing,'' said Monte Lawson, guidance counselor. ''We were just in with some eighth-graders earlier today talking about some of the same things Coach House was doing today.''

Saying that the opportunity to speak to the students and share his advice with them was rewarding for him, House said all youth make choices that will shape the outcomes of their lives - as he did.

''Everybody at this age, fifth- through eighth-grade age, thinks they're indestructible,'' House said. ''If you can realize that it's OK to make tough choices, and that the choices you make are going to make an impact down the road, the power of choice becomes even more powerful.''