Team Family or Team Faculty? That’s a hard decision to make. The good news is that at Highview’s 2nd annual SEL Kickball game, participants and spectators were clearly part of Team Everyone. After all, everyone loves kickball and the spirit of community.
Organized by Highview PE teacher Mr. Costa and with the help of parent volunteers, the SEL Kickball game took place last week on Wednesday afternoon. Students, parents, and teachers participated in the fun. Highview’s 14 peer-appointed Student Citizens for the month of September closed out their term by playing alongside their teachers, while other student volunteers played in teams of two with family members. Some students chose simply to be cheerleaders, waving their handmade signs of support above their heads and shouting encouragement to all the players on the field.
Robert Hak, a parent to a second grader at Highview, has a personal passion for kickball. For the past several years, he's been involved with an adult co-ed kickball league in White Plains, so naturally, he volunteered to be the team lead this year. “Kickball levels the playing field so anyone can play, no matter their ability,” he said. “An event like this gives family members an opportunity to be involved as active participants with their students. Adults do the kicking, students do the running, and you’re spending the whole time together. It’s great.”
Besides having fun (and fun they had!), Mr. Costa had another goal in mind when creating this community-centric program. “As a physical education teacher, I don’t always have an opportunity to get to know the families in the same way that other teachers do,” he said. “I also think it’s great for students to see their teachers in a different way outside of the classroom. Most importantly, it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to bring together the community in a positive way.”
For those interested in the stats, Team Faculty were down 4-2, but managed to pull out a comeback in the last inning and took the lead with a final score of 5-4. Check out the video of the game-winning runs and more photos on our Facebook page!