It looks and sounds like a cosmic bowling party in the Oak Grove Elementary School gym. Balls strike pins, students groan through gutter balls and reassemble pins in lanes made of LED rope lights.
It’s all fun and games and then some when students are in the gym with PE coach Cameron Schmidt. Innovative cross-curricular activities that combine physical fitness and core subjects like math are an important part of her lesson plan.
“Any time I can do cross-curricular units, I love it,” said Schmidt. “The connection between movement and brain activity is so relevant. Anytime I can apply that to a real-life situation like bowling that makes it fun for them where they’re excited for it – I’m all about it.”
Students in every grade level step up to the lane, take aim and then calculate how many pins they knocked down. With one swing, addition and multiplication collide with hand-eye coordination. Coach Schmidt is ready to embrace any opportunity to inspire students to strengthen their skills in and out of the gym.
“It’s a dream job. I get to play every day and share lifetime health and wellness tips.”
