The South Seneca Elementary school recently hosted a basketball game. But it wasn’t just any basketball game – it was the school’s staff vs its 5th grade class. The outcome was nothing short of a slam dunk.
Planning for the event began when the 4th and 5th grade members of the Student Wellness Committee selected to host a March Madness Spirit Week to bring awareness to different areas of our health and have some fun in the process during the last week of March. Each day over student wellness spirit week there were different announcements on that gave mini health lessons about how the days dress up theme connected to their personal health/wellness. Cornell Cooperative Extension came out to do fruit and vegetable tastings on Dress the color of your favorite fruit or veggie day.
To make the week even more exciting, Asa McMahon and Dan Neville, the elementary PE teachers, came up with the idea to have a 5th grade student vs staff basketball game. To encourage the whole school to be involved, they reached out to our art teacher Jocelyn Lutter, who had every grade level create posters to cheer on either staff or students during the game. A group of 5th graders created a half time show that they choreographed and performed.
It all created what MTSS Coordinator Laura Rundell described as “the most amazing energy, excitement, and sense of school community.”
South Seneca Central School District Superintendent Steve Zielinski echoed those sentiments.
"The basketball game was as exciting an event as I’ve seen in a while,” he said. “Seeing the entire school gathered to play and to cheer together was a testament to a whole building creating a community."
Dan Neville added: "The energy in the room was electric!"
Asa McMahon agreed.
“The basketball game was bigger than just a game,” she said. “It gave our entire school the opportunity to gather and cheer for each other! The atmosphere was electric; you could feel the energy and enthusiasm in the gym. I can’t wait to do it again!”
Elementary Principal Adam Rundell couldn't have been more thrilled with how the day, and the week, went.
“I just wanted to thank everyone involved for making this amazing Student Wellness March Madness week happen for our entire school,” he said.
“Our 4th and 5th grade Student Wellness committees came up with a fun and healthy week to bring us all together. The basketball game and cheerleading performances inspired by our PE teachers, Asa McMahon and Dan Neville were the perfect way to culminate the perfect week! A big thank you also goes out to our Art teacher, Jocelyn Lutter for helping every student make personal signs and for painting our faces leading up to the big game, which all led us to the most exciting event I've experienced here in my ten years at South Seneca!”