Stick 'Em Up! Kids Love Street Hockey

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

Students love floor hockey! They love it. I have been teaching fitness for three years at a public charter school in a heavily populated city. I have never seen our middle school students so excited about playing any other sport. We have 244 Pre-Kindergarten through eighth graders who come from various, ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds. Our school has received awards for being one of the top charter schools in our city. As a Title One school with over 50% of our students on free and reduced lunch we strive to give opportunities to our students that they would not have otherwise.

I am currently teaching our fifth through eighth graders a unit on floor hockey. It has been a huge success. Student have learned team work, they have been excited about working hard in fitness class, and they have been picking up a lot of great hockey skills. My favorite part of teaching this unit has been that students are learning how to accept logical consequences without a fight. When a penalty is called on them, there is rarely an argument and they wait patiently to get back into the game. I have refereed many games in my time teaching and I have never seen such acceptance. It is amazing what this kids will do for floor hockey. Our school does not have a gym. Currently we are fortunate enough to have some space to play in a gym. In order to comply with the gym managers request, we padded our hockey sticks with an elaborate array of duct tape, weather stripping and socks. Laugh as you may, these sticks are well padded and those pads are not coming off. We are left with a great set of hockey sticks that can only be used indoors. The concrete would rip up the padding and render the sticks useless indoors and outdoors.

As the weather gets warmer, I would like to offer them the chance to play hockey outside on a basketball court that is close to our school. These 12 hockey sticks will be a great start to our collection and will ensure that our students can be excited about hockey for a little bit longer. These sticks can also be used for fall of next year and for subsequent classes and years to come.

This is a simple problem with a clear solution. It is rare that I have seen middle school students so excited about being active and participating in my class. It has been a great learning experience for them and I know that they are learning more than just hockey. I would like to give them and other students in the future, the opportunity to play hockey in outside. Please help make this idea possible. Our students would love it!