By Celeste Amron and Elise Bilodeau
Teachers are teaming up in a staff volleyball league that supports the Class of 2020 and the volleyball team. The league began in March and consists of four teams.
The league was started by math teacher David Ly, history teacher Kyle McCollum, and science teacher AJ DeSain. Ly said, “[We] wanted to start a fun activity after school. We wanted to help improve teacher wellness at TC and get some exercise while doing it. We also knew people liked volleyball and it’s easy enough that all teachers could participate if they wanted to.”
The league is run by sophomore Leadership students and volleyball players. The students keep score and referee the games. “I go there every time and I set things up, we score, and then we put things away,” said sophomore and volleyball player Shannon Murphy. Also, if there are not enough teachers present for the teams, students can fill in and play. Sophomore Aidan Moser is the main student substitute. Moser said, “[The teachers] are definitely more fun and not as stressed.”
The fee for entering the league is $20 per person, which covers team t-shirts and donates money to the sophomore class. Each team has a color: the science department is light blue, english is red, social studies is black, and math is blue.
The teams are based on department: social studies (The Regulators), science (The Science Team), math (Divide and Conquer), and english (Book, Set, Spike!). The teams play games on Wednesdays and Fridays. “The math team is pretty good,” said history teacher Ashley Phillips and member of The Regulators. Phillips said, “Everyone’s beaten us; social studies is not very good.”
Divide and Conquer is in the lead with a record of 3-0, next is Book, Set, Spike! with a record of 2-1, The Science Team has a record of 1-2 and in last place is The Regulators with a record of 0-3.
There will be a playoff tournament starting Friday, April 13. Each of the four teams will make the tournament, so any team can win the league, regardless of their regular season record. “I’m looking forward to the playoffs being a time when The Regulators prove our team can be successful and get a win” said history teacher Courtney Horwat.
There is no prize for the winning team; however, they will get bragging rights. “If you are as competitive as I am that is more than enough of a prize. The whole league is a fundraiser for the Sophomore Class so since I know how important fundraising is, as [Senior] class sponsor, I wouldn’t want them to spend any of the funds on a prize,” said Horwat.
English teacher Kathryn Sicard said, “I‘m not competitive at all, and even the most amazing athletes on our team are just there to have fun, so I’m not stressed [about the playoffs].”
The volleyball league is an opportunity for teachers to get exercise, and also enables them to get to know each other better. Phillips said, “TC is such a large school and there are a lot of staff members, and a lot of us don’t even know each other, so they set [the league] up as a fun way to get to know the other teachers.”
Sicard said, “I have gotten to know my colleagues on a totally different and often goofy level.”
“We may try to organize a kickball tournament at the end of the year,” said Ly. “I would love to participate in [the kickball league],” Horwat said, “I think it would be another great opportunity for the whole school community to see teachers in a different way.”
