Keystone Magazine Learning the Keystone Way 2015-2016 EN | Page 37

A
whistle echoed in the middle school gym, followed
by the echo of several running feet. This was the
sound of the excited group of foundation year stu-
dents as they kicked off their PE activity, balls galore.
But when they got something wrong, or forgot a
rule, these youngest Keystone students did not turn
to the PE teacher, Andrew Thompson; they turned to the grade 9
students who were training them. Yes, the grade 9 students were
in charge in an interesting middle school unit conceptualized and
organized by the teachers of the PE department on sports leader-
ship. The unit, part of the Keystone PE curriculum, focused on how
to use communication and relationships effectively in leadership
to give students meaningful experiences while playing games and
practicing skills.
Communications and relationship building are both skills that can be
tricky, especially with young children, as most parents can definitely
vouch. So one can sympathize when the grade 9 students were
quite nervous, as they picked their activities in one of their class ses-
sions, and then went about planning it. The middle school students
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