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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The father/child gym night at Stadium Elementary allowed dads to spend time with their children and meet their children's friends and other dads with children in the school. Pictured, two dads helped their sons with yoga poses during the scavenger hunt.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Stadium Elementary's gym night aimed at giving both the children and dads a healthy, exercise-focused night of fun. Pictured, dads and children tried to complete the scavenger hunt the fastest. The hunt included answering questions about health and doing exercises and workouts.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Stadium Elementary's physical education teacher Kendal Daltorio organized the gym night for second grade students on Feb. 21 and fourth grade children on Feb. 28.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Stadium Drive Elementary invited the fathers of second grade and fourth grade students to the school on Feb. 21 and 28. Pictured, parents and children faced off in a game of gaga ball.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The parents and children competed in three different games: hot shots, gaga ball and a scavenger hunt. For hot shots, dads teamed up with their child to score baskets resulting in a variety of different points.
By ZACK SHIVELY
Stadium Drive Elementary invited families to the school for their father and child gym night events on Feb. 21 and 28.
The gym night featured three different games for the children and their fathers to play. The school’s PTA also provided a snack for the end of the night after all parents and children participated in the games.
Kendal Daltorio, the schools physical education teacher, organized the night with the PTA. She said the night gives students a night out with their dads as well as gives them a fun night with health and exercise.
“It’s a great way to get kids to interact with their dads or another male figure,“ she said.
The students and their dads played gaga ball and hot shots, and they participated in a scavenger hunt. Each pair of children and parents competed against the others in all three games.
The group played gaga ball on the stage. Gaga ball is a game similar to dodgeball where players swipe a ball at their opponents’ lower body to get them out. The game took a free-for-all approach, where parents and children tried to get each other out.
Those playing the game stood in the playing area, called the gaga pit. The pit has walls surrounding it so the ball can bounce off the sides. When someone got hit with the ball, they left the playing area and stood in line to get back in. Once a person left the playing area, another person from the line took their place.
The hot shots game rewarded players for their basketball skills. Scott Knox, a physical education teacher who has taught at the school during Daltorio’s maternity leave, put place mats on the ground throughout the gym for players to shoot basketballs from.
Each place mat represented a different point total. Players who made a basket while standing on a mat got to place the mat in their scoring circle, a hula hoop and earn that amount of points. At the end of the game, the parents and children totaled their points to determine the winner of the game.
The school set up the scavenger hunt to be a healthy learning exercise. Parents and children worked together to race through the school and answer questions and do exercises. For example, students answered questions about the cardiovascular system in a hallway. In another part of the school, they had to do yoga poses. The team that finished the fastest won.
Daltorio said that the night is nice because it gives students time to spend time with each other after school. She has organized the night every year since she began in 2010. She added the gaga ball game and has made the night her own.
The school only offers the night to the second-grade and fourth-grade students. The second grade had the gym night on the 21st and the fourth grade had their night a week later.