DRC Does Kindergarten

 Today we went back to Weinland Park.  We were excited to play kickball with the kids again and were proud to see how much they were improving.

 Right when we came out to play the 2nd graders had already lined themselves up and were ready to play!  We were so proud of how organized they were :)

Today, for the first time ever in DRC history, we played kickball with the kindergarteners.  They were very good at staying in line - in fact, we had to ask them to get out of line! - and they seemed so excited to be finally playing kickball with us.  We taught them the basic rules and ran with them to the bases.

The boys were so into lines we set one up to help them catch the ball and tag the girls to make the game go faster.

This is a picture of two boys. The boy in the yellow shirt was so adorable and kept asking me to race him! He was so fast I know he would beat me everytime:) I cant wait to see him next time I go! 

Riley was teaching the boys how to jump over the cones. We think she is trying to start a track team!


We had a great day at Weinland Park! All the kids look forward to seeing us each week. Today they even asked us for our autographs! They are really starting to get how to play each game and I know they will soon be able to play these games on their own :) 

The DRC

 This week we made another trip to Weinland Park to help with their recess.  The kids' kickball and soccer skills have really improved over the weeks.  We're getting to know them much better.

Maddie: Today I was teaching the kids some more about soccer. They seemed to really enjoy it! This little girl in the picture really liked to show off her skills to everyone else:)

Riley: The kids in the kindergarten/first grade group at first had us playing keep-away with the kickball because they all wanted it.  Then they had us giving them piggyback rides.  Then they were playing tag with the kickball.  Then they were running around out in the fields.  THEN we FINALLY got them to play kickball!  They loved the piggyback rides and worked on taking turns.  They bounced around so much and giggled and called me "horsie."  I loved it.  Two girls asked for my autograph...so I pretended to sign their arms.

Katie: This little boy is the cutest thing that I have ever had the pleasure to come across. He loves holding my hand and getting piggy-back rides. He's always happy to try and learn whatever new game we have for the first graders that day. I always look for him when the kids come outside to play so I can get a smile and a hug from him :).

Sarah:  Here we are taking a much needed break after chasing the kindergarteners and first graders around.  This wall is where the students line up before playing to recite the rules of the Playground.  The rules are:

Follow directions of all staff
Don't throw mulch or rocks
Keep your hands, feet, and other objects to yourself
Go up the ladder and down the slide
Do not climb on top of the monkey bars
Stay away from the tables unless sitting down
Flip only in the grass and not off objects or other people
If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all
If you have a problem tell a teacher
Do not run to catch, grab, or hit another person

Below are the kids reciting all of their recess rules!

Sarah:  When I needed to calm the kids down I would give my epic speech.  "Boys are Boys, Girls are Girls, Stay in line and you will have a good time."   ~Sarah


Riley: Mr. C. and Ms. B. gave us the nickname of the DRC (Dublin Recess Crew)!  We love it!  We feel official now that we have a name.  Thank you!

Recess in the Summer

Today we (Katie, Riley, Sarah) went to Weinland Park and helped out with the recess!  The kids are back in school after their month-long summer break.

This is the playground that the kids have behind their school.  They share field space with a community park also named Weinland Park.

We taught the third graders the basic rules of kickball.  Many of the kids here had not learned how to play before but they seemed to enjoy it!  Weinland Park kickball was much different than our elementary school kickball!

This is Riley and Katie all lined up ready to kick and organized. 

Sarah was pitcher.  The basketball courts in the background are a part of the community park.

The kids were so enthusiastic to dribble the ball through the cones and take a shot on goal!  (For reference, please note the little girl in pink and the little boy in white.)  That's the school behind them.  It's shared with the Schoenbaum Family Center.

 This is Katie and the new friend she made while helping with recess. He was so cute and was always ready to learn whatever we were teaching! The kids here love giving hugs and holding your hands.

This recess ran much smoother than last time.  They are catching on!  There was less fighting and much more learning.

Bailey Elementary 5th Graders Give Back

During the past school year, Bailey Elementary in Dublin had a coin drive called Coins for Kids.  The students raised a total of roughly $600 dollars in pennies, nickels, and dimes.  Half of that money was spent on new playground supplies like balls, bats, bases, jumpropes, and more.  Above is the picture of us standing with the cart that was once empty and is now full!

The other $300 dollars were spent on new books for their library.  We also collected donated books from our neighbors and friends.  We went down to the school to deliver the new books and supplies.  We had to find more room on the shelves to fit all of the books!  We were so excited that school would soon start for them.  We would be able to come play recess games with the kids!

Finally, before we left, we cleaned the playground up.  The school was ready for the kids to come back!  We were sooooooooo excited!!!!!!



All of the supplies we collected from Sells Middle School on the last day of school.

 In early May, we (then attending Sells Middle School) decided to help out an inner city school in Columbus.  This school, called Weinland Park Elementary, is a year round school that is constantly in need of school supplies.  We decided find a way to give the school the supplies they needed.

In 6th grade, I realized that most students, when cleaning out their lockers, throw away many supplies that they could use again.  I told my friends about it and later, in 8th grade, we organized a school supply drive that collected any gently used school supplies that the students would not need the next year.  We were only hoping to fill a few boxes with a bunch of unusable binders and folders.
Instead we had boxes overflowing in the hallways and teachers finding bags to put the rest of the supplies into.  In all, Sells Middle School donated 183 binders, 6800 sheets of notebook paper, 100+ spiral notebooks, 7700 index cards, and boxes and boxes of markers, pens, and pencils.  We couldn't believe how much we had to take down to Weinland Park.

Not only did we help out a needy school, we also prevented thousands of school supplies from ending up in a landfill.  The students at Weinland Park were so excited to see us carrying the boxes and boxes of supplies into the school.  We were so proud.

Sarah