Your School Tax Dollars - Hard at Work

Very apropos for the week before school board elections and budget votes, with the concomitant hand-wringing over rising costs, a little story appears in the "School Zone" section of today's OD: "How fast can you stack?" What's this all about?

According to the article, the timed sequential stacking of a series of cups is "quite a trend among area students." The article specifically mentions Utica, Rome and Clinton districts as participating. . . . Don't laugh. This is serious business, folks. There is an official website for this "sport" http://www.worldsportstackingassociation.org/ ... and Rome hosted a regional tournament back in April.

The teachers love it:

Diane Penella, tournament director and a teacher at Staley Upper Elementary School in Rome, said competitive cup stacking helps students develop self-confidence.

“We’re seeing kids who might have been shy and now they’re standing out. They have self-confidence,” she said. . . .

Christina Buschmann, physical education teacher at Clinton Middle School and the district’s chair of the Health and Physical Education Department, said students at her school often take part in the activity in the winter.

She agreed the activity has both mental and physical benefits.

“Being able to work both sides of your brain, it helps students increase awareness in all areas of their lives,” Buschmann said. “It’s really amazing. It takes practice to really get good at it. It’s a great activity to do for the family.”

Isn't it amazing how educators can find an educational value in virtually anything . . .

. . . . What.horse.manure!