• Curriculum Overview
• After School
• Events and Celebrations
• Service Learning and Partnerships
• Special Assemblies
• Mini Courses

by Mike Nowell, Woodshop and OG Sports teacher

Next week, on Monday and Tuesday mornings, a unique annual event will be taking place at school. For children in third grade and up, SRV's Track and Field days are one of the highlights of the year. The voluntary events include the 50 meter dash, 50 meter hurdles, 1500 meter run, long jump, high jump, shot put and javelin. Parents are welcome to attend.

Begun in 1982, the Track and Field days were introduced to allow children to track the natural athletic growth that occurs through the school's opportunities to engage in physical play. In SRV's version of a meet, no one is forced to participate but nearly everyone does. The tone is of mutual support and encouragement. Rather than competing with each other, the children work against the clock and the tape measure as they attempt to beat their previous personal best achievements.

Now imagine about forty children on and around the field and blacktop (with many younger ones watching). A nine-year-old boy who has been watching avidly from the sidelines for years makes his first official long jump, discovers it's harder than he thought and that jumping his own height is a great beginning. A quiet ten-year-old girl who "never really liked sports" discovers that running long distance, she falls into the natural rhythm and groove of a marathoner, and loves it. And to the cheers of encouragement from his peers, a hesitant eleven-year-old screws up his courage and overcomes a good deal more than the five physical hurdles as he makes his way down the playing field. Get the picture?