BROWNSTOWN
Fifteen different colored dodgeballs were placed on the midcourt line.
When they were signaled to start, the two teams of 19 Brownstown Central High School students rushed to the middle of the gymnasium and headed back to where they started. They then eyed their target and launched the dodgeball.
One by one, students were eliminated from the action.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe winning team then had to battle against a team of 14 staff members. Despite having five fewer players, the teachers came out victorious.
That wasn’t the only win that day. Amethyst House also was a winner.
A team of 10 students in Robin Perry’s principles of business management class, known as the Drug Dodgers, organized the tournament as a fundraiser for Amethyst House, a Bloomington-based not-for-profit United Way agency that provides residential and outpatient services for people with drug and alcohol addiction and problem gambling issues.
“I think that’s big,” science teacher Mitchell Taylor said of supporting a good cause. “It really shows that we’re not only here to teach kids at the school but also just be involved in the community and help people out in our community.”
Once the students learned about Amethyst House and senior Shaylee Monde reached out to its founder, they knew they wanted to help.
“We all thought that the drug problem in our community was a big problem, so we wanted to encourage people to break that barrier and get help and get better,” senior Kaylee Branaman said. “We decided that Amethyst House was probably our best option.”
The group had its first fundraiser idea turned down. They, however, pushed forward and gained approval for a dodgeball tournament.
Senior Hannah Fisher said the school already does a students vs. teachers basketball game in the spring, and they did volleyball tournaments in middle school, so they thought a dodgeball tournament would be something different.
The next step was to form teams. The group started taking signups in the mornings before school, and after that didn’t work too well, they tried lunchtime and found success.
It was $5 per person to play. The project team also collected donations, and they sold treat bags on the day of the tournament.
In the end, the group exceeded its goal of $250 by raising more than $300.
“Seeing everyone come together and compromise and be able to work things out was probably one of the coolest things to see us all come together and actually be able to plan this on limited time,” junior Madison Manifold said.
Perry said she was glad to see the students overcome challenges.
“That’s part of learning,” she said. “We worked them out. It’s just like everyday real world. Little things happen, and you find ways around it. They did a good job with that.”
Senior Kimberly Henline was a member of the project team and also played in the tournament.
“It was fun, but some of the teachers are kind of scary when they throw,” she said, smiling. “It was competitive, kind of nerve-racking.”
Juniors Kimon Mueller-Sander and Alex Isbrandt were on the project team and served as referees during the tournament.
Mueller-Sander said they had rules for the tournament, but once they saw how much fun everyone was having, they didn’t enforce the rules as seriously.
“It was pretty cool to see how they play and was also pretty funny,” he said.
Isbrandt also had a good time watching the teachers and students battle it out on the court.
“I thought it was pretty funny how they were very competitive against the students and they became kind of like a big team,” Isbrandt said of the teachers.
As far as strategy, Taylor said it was simple: “Bide your time and don’t get hit by a ball.”
“I teach science, so I don’t get to see them in this type of setting where they just compete with one another,” he said of the students. “Sometimes, you don’t see that in the classroom setting, so it was really cool to see that. You get to know kids in a different way you can’t really get to in the classroom.”
Taylor said the teachers will aim for the sweep in March during a basketball tournament against the students.