My students need Pickleball paddles and Pickleballs to learn a paddle sport created for all ages, all skill levels, and can promote a fun way to stay active for a lifetime.
"What?! I don't want the class period to be over already!" This is the type of statement that our Physical Education department strives to hear from our students each day. Our goal is to provide our students with opportunities to work on standards based skills without even knowing it. Our middle school serves approximately 900, 6th-8th grade students in rural Northern California.
Our goal is to prepare our students for success in high school and beyond with 21st century skills, a growth mindset, and an active lifestyle.
Our students come from very diverse backgrounds. Half of our student body come from a low socioeconomic background and the other half come from more affluent backgrounds. Part of our job is to really focus on collaborative activities that help our students practice personal and social skills needed to be healthy, productive, and overcome these differences to be successful in life. From the minute our students walk into our locker rooms, we focus on their potential and promoting positive growth toward these goals. In turn, our students take pride in their efforts and are willing to challenge their mind and bodies.
My Project
According to NBC news, Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in America. The rules are simple and the game is easy for beginners to learn, but can develop into a quick, fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players. It was invented in 1965 and resembles a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. Our local community park just built four new Pickleball courts open to the public. Our current Pickleball equipment is approximately 17 years old and funding for equipment is very minimal in our district. Our wooden paddles are beginning to split and give students splinters. We would love to provide new, safe equipment for our students to use while learning the skills needed to play this great sport.
New Pickleball paddles and Pickleballs will give our Physical Education department the chance to teach a fun, skills based unit where our students can learn a sport that they could potentially play for a lifetime.
Our PE department is a strong professional learning community, where we all work together to create units of instruction that engage every student. All equipment is shared and utilized by our entire department. Any donations for this project will positively impact nearly our entire student body!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. McGarr and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
