Field Day!
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
9
37
Trip End
Ongoing
Taichung, Taiwan
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Summer camp lasts about two weeks during the month of July. I really play very little role in this because administration has set that time set aside for new teachers to prepare their classrooms and begin familiarizing themselves with the school's curriculum. However, when the campers go on a field trip, we all know that field trips need chaperones. And who better to chaperone a field trip than the ultimate professional chaperone himself, Teacher Scot.
I have been a professional field trip chaperone since freshman year of high school
Champions!
. My Mom used to "employ" me to watch over a group of students during her summer enrichment program at Union Grove Elementary. I was in charge of watching over 3-4 youngsters on such epic field trips that included the Milwaukee Public Museum, Discovery World, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and even the Shedd Aquarium. It is an area of the teaching profession that I am very qualified in, and I took full advantage of the chaperoning requirement of the Summer Camp.The first field trip of the summer involved a "Field Day" at the local university. We gathered up all of the youngsters, lathered them up with sunscreen, and walked about five blocks down the street to the Taichung Univeristy. Field Day consisted of many glorious competitive events that included the three-legged race, the tug-of-war, and a few games of Frisbee.
Those who know me quite well realize that I do have a rather competitive streak when it comes to, well, life in general. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that I started up a quick game of Frisbee when we arrived at the playing field and immediately began scoping out the students for potential winners that could hand me the prize as grand champion chaperone of the afternoon.
The Frisbee game yielded some strong potential performers
Having fun in the sun
. However, I found a young man who looked agile enough, tall enough, and had the eye of the tiger when it came to catching the Frisbee away from his counterparts. Naturally, I approached him with the offer that he should be my partner for the three-legged race. He accepted (who wouldn't?) and we lined up for the first heat.The race started off strong with us letting the others wear themselves out early in the race. We decided to opt for the classic "1-2" march count in an effort to keep from falling on each other. However, when the dust finally settled, we ended up with the bronze medal. We would not get past the first round, and eventually had to watch the remaining races from the sidelines. It was an upset of mammoth proportions.
However, that did not stop me from losing the dream. I knew we had a long afternoon ahead of us, and I would not let one race knock me out of the championship. We all lined up for teams in the tug-of-war competition. I took the role as 'captain" of one of the teams, to which I immediately began coaching them with high fives and encouraging them to talk trash. We lined up for the best-of-three championship series and ended up losing a very close first game.
During the five-minute intermission, I gathered the troops to the side and let them know the game plan
Teachers vs. Students
. They had a pretty strong seventh grader on the opposing battlefield. However, I announced to the students that, doggone it, if they needed me to, I would have to step in and bail them out. Teacher Scot's teams are not losers and there was no rule in the books about how the coach can't join in. The kids were pumped and ready to roll.Early in the second game things were looking rather bleak. It was a back and fourth affair with no side claiming victory. However, just as my team was about to pull away with the win, one of our players lost his footing and slipped. I immediately seized control of the situation and filled-in for his position and we ended up winning the second match.
The third and final round was as intense as things have gotten here in Taiwan. A loophole was thrown to our team prior to the game as it was announced by administration that teachers were not allowed to join in the championship game. I, of course, stated that there was no rule about coaches not being allowed to join. Immediately a second clause was passed and added to the "no teacher" amendment, and I was shut out. It was up to the troops to lead us home.
As the other two matches pointed out, the teams were evenly matched and it was tight from the beginning
Three legged race
. However, my kids seemed to have some sort of extra spark. I don't know what it is or where they found the strength, but like Muhammad Ali "roped a dope" with his Thrilla in Manila, my kids did a little dope roping of their own as we were crowned the champions of Taichung. High-fives and fist-pumps were thrown all around.Although you would not think that grade schoolers would be that overjoyed to be outside and playing sports in the 95 degree heat (not including the humidity), you need to realize that these Taiwanese students are only given 40 minutes of outdoor play per week. It is even less when the regular school year starts rolling along (15 minutes per week). So when an opportunity arises to go outside, hang out with their teachers, and throw a Frisbee around for three hours, they take full advantage of the opportunity... and a smile never leaves their faces. It was a lot of fun and I am anxious for our next two field trips.
