ELGIN, SC (WIS) -
Classrooms have been turned into countries
at Leslie M. Stover Middle School in Elgin as students mirror the upcoming
summer Olympic games through Field Day activities.
This "Cool School" allowed each of its 24 homeroom classes
to pick a country that is competing in the 2012 Olympic Games.
The students were challenged to learn about each country's
culture and history, and then they were asked to show their country's spirit
during the school's ‘Opening Ceremonies.'
"They came up with the different colors, the T-shirts, the
posters and they had to create an original flag," said Cassandra Mickle, the
school's art teacher and field day coordinator. Each class was also required to
give a 3 minute presentation about their country before the school.
Teachers also took the chance to educate students on the
history of their school as they learned the history of the Olympic Games. "This
school was started as an elementary school back in 1999 and it is named after a
guy named Mr. Leslie Stover," said Mr. Mike Garity, principal at Leslie M.
Stover Middle. "He served this community for more than 30 years, so this school
has been named after him and is in his honor, and we wanted to tie that in to
what the students were learning."
Students learned that when the first edition of the modern
Olympic Games was held in 1896 in Athens, there were 245 competitors from 14
countries. The most recent Olympic Games had more than 10,000 athletes from
more than 200 countries.
Teachers organized games that would mimic sports that summer
athletes will compete in this year. In a triathlon challenge, teachers
challenged the students to scoot across the gym floor on tricycles, paddle on
their stomachs using a skateboard and run through a tire obstacle course. "We
thought to [incorporate biking] it would be a fun thing for the kids to use the
tricycles, and to use the skateboards as our swimming and of course the tires
as the running part of this event," said Mickle.
The Stover Olympic Games will wrap up Friday afternoon with
the presentation of the ‘Tiger Torch,' or the classroom that takes home the
most medals.
"It's a very prestigious award and these kids are going to
fight like champions to be the bearer of the ‘Tiger Torch,' said Coach James Baker.
"It will mean a lot of bragging, and maybe even extra ice cream at lunch…we'll
see," added Baker.
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