by Cori Hilsgen
news@thenewsleaders.com
Cody Adams, a second-grade student at Kennedy Community School, used skills he learned in his classroom to help build a recess football field at his school.
Students in Kevin Beneke’s classroom had been studying how to write a persuasive letter. Adams, the son of Sean and Wendy Adams of St. Joseph, thought he and other students would benefit from a place to play football during recess. He wrote a letter to the school’s activities director Dan Schaefer.
The letter stated Adams and his friends would like to play football at recess and would like a small field with lines and a goal post. It also stated when the field would be built it would need a fence around it. Adams asked Schaefer to consider the idea and the possibility of naming it The Little Colts Football Field.
“As the activities director at Kennedy Community School, I decided to see if Cody’s feelings about a recess football field were shared by any of his classmates,” Schaefer said. “I quickly discovered the majority of students, not just second-graders, were in favor of having a place to play two-hand touch football.”
Schaefer invited any and all second-grade students to brainstorm ideas of where the field should go, the dimensions of the field, and the design logo for the end zones. Students built the field in spring after the snow melted.
“The field was completed in early May and has been used every day since,” Schaefer said. “The project taught students many valuable lessons. The first lesson – the power of words and how to write a persuasive letter. One student’s persuasive letter ended with a completed project that benefits all Kennedy students. Other lessons included how to brainstorm ideas, teamwork and cooperation.”
contributed photo
Cody Adams (holding the football) and other second-grade students at Kennedy Community School recently helped build a recess football field.
contributed photo
Second-graders recently built this recess football field at Kennedy Community School.
