Bowling inferno at Endeavour Elementary
November 25, 2008
By Christopher Huber
Endeavour fourth grader Christina Nguyen winds up to bowl as classmates dance to the music Friday during disco bowling in their PE class. Photo by Christopher Huber
As the morning group of third and fourth graders waited patiently outside the double doors to the gymnasium, the red and white Christmas lights lined the walls and the oscillating colored light set was already flashing about.
Physical education teachers Salena Skogstad and Dalaina LaManz led the students inside, took attendance and assigned them to their respective lanes.
Rubber bowling balls — check. 1970s dance music — check. Spinning disco ball — check. Lights out. It’s disco bowling time.
For the third year in a row, Endeavour Elementary School students get down and funky in PE class while perfecting their bowling score.
“It’s hilarious, because the kids are sweating by the time they leave, not because they’re bowling, but because they dance while in line,” LaManz said about the high-energy class-time.
The bowling unit runs from Nov. 13-26 and serves as a break for students at the end of a long trimester and near the holiday vacation time, Skogstad said.
Many people may remember the days of bowling in elementary school, with the hollow rubber balls, plastic pins and carpet-roll lanes.
Endeavour’s program is different because teachers essentially turn the gym into a disco hall. At the same time, they teach the antsy students a thing or two about safety, aim and the complexity of scoring the game.
“We normally do capture the flag stuff, so it’s different with all the lights off,” fourth grader Jared Stever said after 30 minutes of bowling and dancing.
To make the experience complete, the school’s custodian braves the cold wind and rain almost daily to climb up on the roof to cover the gym windows with tarps. This ensures that the only light in the room comes from the multi-color flashing lights and sparkling disco ball, LaManz and Skogstad said.
“It gets boring doing just bowling,” Skogstad said while LaManz supervised the kindergarten class. “The darkness really makes a difference.”
The class will see its share of variations. As some groups are more easily distracted from bowling, the two teachers sometimes turn the last half of class into freeze-disco. Students gather under the disco ball, which hangs from a basketball hoop, and LaManz or Skogstad will teach them disco dance moves. The students freeze when the music stops.
“We try to get creative,” Skogstad said.
By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, the teachers change things up with turkey bowling. It’s still disco, but with the added challenge of knocking down the pin with the turkey on it.
The bowling set-up is shared between various schools in the Issaquah School District, but Endeavour already had the lights and the disco ball.
Skogstad said the idea for disco bowling came after she held family bowling nights as a teacher at Challenger Elementary. It evolved into techno, then disco bowling.
LaManz and Skogstad said even though it’s mainly a fun, recreational unit, they often have the fourth graders “buddy” up with kindergarteners to teach them how to bowl straight.
“It’s another nice way to connect the school,” LaManz said.
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext 242, or at chuber@isspress.com.
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