Games, fun serve as learning tools

In the competition, pupils in each class represented the nation they had studied.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HE SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES CAME TO one elementary school here several months early and with an educational twist.
Pupils at North Elementary School participated in an Olympic Field Day event Wednesday. Jason Groves, physical education teacher, said the day was about more than just fun and games.
"I was thinking of the Olympics coming up, and I thought it would be a good idea for our school to learn about the Olympic history and at the same time learn about different cultures," he said.
Each of the 10 classes at the school spent the past two weeks studying the Olympics and a different nation. In their Olympic Games, classes represented the nation they had studied.
Groves said the program was intended to be as close to the Olympic ceremony as possible. Flags for each represented nation were made by the pupils and held high as each class entered the field. There was also an Olympic torch.
Other details
The pupils participated in games such as volleyball, a discus throw, javelin throw and footraces. Unlike the actual Olympics, some aspects of the school games were changed for safety reasons. The javelins, for example, were made of foam rubber.
According to Groves, adding the games to the study of the various nations increased the pupils' desire to learn about the countries and Olympic tradition. Most pupils could be heard cheering their teammates on with reminders of what nation they were representing.
An assembly was also planned where pupils would share what they learned about a given country with the rest of the classes.
Also unlike the Olympic Games, every participant at the school received a medal. Groves said each pupil did win because of the lessons learned from the games.
jgoodwin@vindy.com