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GUES fourth grade student Tori Dubard (left), tires out her kung fu skills with help from Ronald McDonald (right) and kung fu instructor Jacquie Amos-Norris during Friday’s Passport to Play. GUES was one of 50 schools in the country selected for the special program, which encourages students to exercise. Staff Photo/ Allen Baswell
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By ALLEN BASWELL
Staff Writer
Grenada Upper Elementary students were given a passport Friday, getting a chance to experience games from other parts of the world. And the only travel involved was students walking from their classroom to the gym.
GUES was one of 50 schools in the United States selected to receive a Passport to Play Day, courtesy of McDonald’s.
Kerry Waugh, an instructor at GUES who helped coordinate the event, said Passport to Play is a way to keep children’s minds engaged and keep their bodies active.
“This special event brought some of the games around the world to life at our school,” she said.
Among the countries the students played games from were China, Australia, Holland and Mexico. They participated in kung fu from China, boomerang golf from Australia, soccer from Mexico and korchball from Holland, a game similar to American basketball.
Ronald McDonald also participated in the games and gave a pep talk to the youngsters, encouraging them to be active, and exercise at least an hour each day.
“This is all for the kids,” he said.
Mike Metzer, owner of the Grenada McDonald’s, said the Grenada School was the only stop Passport to Play made in Mississippi.
“We are delighted to have them in Grenada. These people are professional in their work,” he said.
Kevin Bayley, a spokesman for Passport to Play, said the event is a multi-cultural approach to learning what is specifically designed to follow the key criteria outlined in the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) National Standards for Physical Education.
“Students will see that being active is also fun and educational as this multi-cultural learning experience brings games from around the world to life,” he said.
GUES Assistant Principal Carol Tharpe said the event was a tremendous success.
“The children had a wonderful time as they learned games from different parts of the world,” she said.
A huge inflated glove was set up as students pointed to the country where they were playing the game, Tharpe said.
“This gave them a chance to learn skills on how to read a map. By taking part in this, the students were able to learn the rules of these games, which is always helpful in their education,” she said.
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