Around 2:30pm, I heard screams and laughter coming from the play yard that is connected to the Layou School. I had been working on a visual aid for the first grade teacher and was nearly complete. I could not take it a moment longer and I decided that the poster could wait; I had to check out the yard where the noise was coming from. What I saw next can only be described as unbridled joy.
The fifth graders had their PE/exercise period. They were divided into 2 teams, one side with 23 girls and the other with 2 girls and 21 boys. The teams were lined up, facing each other on opposite sides of a blacktop about the length of a basketball court. They were running relay races. The runner would start by running straight to the other side, behind the other team’s line and then back across the court diagonally to the next person on their team in line. The race created a criss-cross pattern across the blacktop where the runners of opposite teams would nearly run into each other during the final leg of the lap. The children flew! Most of them had taken off their school shoes so they could run faster. I love that the girls were against a team of boys. I cannot help but think of how often, in my experience, the boys are split between teams to make it more “fair.” In Layou, for the afternoon, there were no doubts that the girls could keep pace with the boys. As each child took off, you could see fierce determination in their eyes. There was great camaraderie among the teams and the excitement was palpable. No wonder they love this subject—now only to figure out a way to make reading this exciting!
This has been one of my favorite moments since I arrived. It is great to see children running at full speed, barefoot and so full of life. It makes me curious to know if kids in other parts of the world are the same or if they are ever even given the chance to run with all of their hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment