Program gives them trip to games
Take me out to the ball game?
Now Kent School District students can take their parents out to the ball game, buy them a hot dog, chips and a drink, and experience America’s favorite pastime at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. And it’s all free, but they have to earn it.
Part of the Tacoma Rainiers new All-Star Student Program, 25 Panther Lake Elementary School students earned free family trips to the ball game last school year. Josie Wilks, Rainiers director of community development, said the program is meant to be used as a tool for teachers to motivate their students toward a variety of academic and behavior goals.
“For the teachers, the best thing is that this is customizable,” she said. “We give the teachers the choice to audition the students as they see fit. And for the students, it’s definitely a sense of pride. We literally make them all-stars for the day, and they actually get to take their parents out to the game instead of the other way around.”
The program began in the Kent School District as well as five other area districts during the 2007-2008 school year, each with various numbers of participating fifth-grade classes. Five Panther Lake classes participated, giving 125 students a chance to win the program’s All-Star Student packages.
Each package contains four tickets to the Rainiers All-Star Student game of their choice; two such games are scheduled each spring. The packages also contain four food vouchers, a voucher for a Rainiers baseball cap, a certificate of recognition and a letter to the student’s family explaining the award.
The All-Star Student games are special, Wilks said, and formatted to honor the students for their hard work. Students at the games have a chance to meet mascot Rhubarb, get autographs from players and receive a round of applause from the crowd as their names are posted on the scoreboard.
And Wilks said the greatest reward is the all-American baseball experience.
“I just think there’s still that American pastime thing, that take-me-out-to-the-ball-game thing,” she said. “It’s all about the experience, rewarding them with the experience rather than just some item.”
Wilks said the team hopes to expand the program to more Kent School District schools next school year, and she’s confident that will happen. She said those interested in bringing the program to their schools should contact their principal, who should in turn contact her at 253-722-1040 for more information.
Contact Daniel Mooney at 253-437-6012 or dmooney@reporternewspapers.com.
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