SCHOOL SPIRIT

A few weeks ago the staff of Cowman International School had the chance to evaluate where we currently stand as an institution and to plan for the future.  We all agreed that Cowman is a great school ... with room to continue growing in greatness.  I believe it was our principal, Angie, who mentioned that Cowman alumni, years down the road, often rave about the school and appreciate the solid Christian education they received and the godly atmosphere.  And yet many current students often seem to have an attitude more like this: "meh". 

We decided that one thing we could work on as a staff (with very little budget impact requirements) would be "school spirit" - building some opportunities into our schedule to build morale with some fun and competition - and the chance to model good sportsmanship as a bonus.

And the cheapest and easiest way to kickstart some school fun?  A staff vs. student soccer match. 

My 6th and 7th grade students eat and breath soccer.  Almost literally.  In fact, most days the majority consume their entire lunch at our 9:15 break time so they can devote their whole lunch break to the soccer field.  As soon as the posters went up a week ago, interest was HIGH. 

It was great timing, actually, at least for some of us.  Thanksgiving Day and "Black Friday" were otherwise regular school days and the soccer match helped take our minds off of what we were missing "back home".  Even the students' internet science curriculum seemed to be mocking us!

The students were excited to have a day off from uniforms and they were out on the field practicing before the first bell!

Coach David went all out and created boundary lines for our field, doing his best to exclude the mango tree roots.

And as game time approached, the kids were more than happy to help move picnic tables to use as bleachers.

We even had a cheerleader...

And a trophy that the students were so anxious to get their hands on ...

(Coach David found it in town for about a buck fifty!)

Ready for kick-off!

Our kids were laughing later that evening about the fact that in the first ten seconds of the game, one teacher and our principal both landed on their bottoms in the dirt!

But not Mrs. Z.  She was tough.  The students were caught off guard by their 70-something teacher intimidating them on the field.

Samuel managed to get the ball past her, but just barely.

I promise we are keeping Samuel well-fed.  He's not quite as skinny as this angle makes him look!

 
At halftime we had the younger kids on the field trying to kick a ball past their teacher.  Melissa's students got such a thrill out of scoring on her.

When all was said and done though, the staff walked away with the coveted trophy. 

And the students asked for a REMATCH.

Praise the Lord, it turned out to be a whole lot of fun - and we never had to use the first-aid kit.