If you were unable to sit on the sidelines during Tuesday’s after school program, you missed quite a show! Christine Skaggs coordinated this fun event in which 17 eager Harry Potter fans welcomed five members of URI’s Rhody Ridgeback team to our campus for a Quidditch workshop.
The college students had a few obstacles to face, the first and most notable being that the children ranged in age from 6 to 12 and in height from 3’ 10” to 5’ 6”. Second, you might say that our kids were all a bit skeptical of the ‘muggle version’ of this wizarding game which required them to hold onto their broomsticks while they ran, tossing kickballs into suspended hula hoops and attempting to capture the ‘golden snitch’ by chasing a man who had it tied securely to his belt.
Apprehension faded almost instantly though, and our students quickly absorbed the rules of this new game, swapping positions at timed intervals so that everyone had a turn playing the role of Chaser, Beater, Keeper and Seeker. They. Had. A. BLAST. On their way out, we had several requests for a repeat event, for Compass to procure a proper set of brooms and for Ms Kat to incorporate Quiddich into the PE curriculum–all signs of a winner.
The behavior of these kids was first-rate and the level of cooperation was incredible, but the thing that impressed me the most was the amount of care, consideration and restraint that our older students bestow upon our younger students. Coupling such a diverse age group with the use of broomsticks and the potential for knocking over and tackling opponents would ordinarily be a cause for concern. Here, it was an opportunity for Navigators and Investigators to take on a leadership role and to help the Discoverers, Adventurers and Explorers remember the rules, learn their position and work toward their objective. These guys are awesome.
A big shout out to Christine for organizing, to Ms Polly for photo-documenting the experience, and for the Compass Quiddich players
Submitted by Colleen Russell (Compass parent of an Explorer, Discoverer and Investigator)