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Hoops With A Heart: Teachers Have A Ball For Good Cause

By Kate Elizabeth Queram, Daily News-Record
Posted 2010-03-26 at http://www.dnronline.com/details.php?AID=45735&CHID=1; Reposted here with Permission

BROADWAY - Though the gymnasium at J. Frank Hillyard Middle School was filled with familiar sounds Thursday night - fans cheering, sneakers squeaking, nets swishing - the basketball game being played on the floor was anything but ordinary.

The gray-and-green Broadway jerseys were the same, but the men and women wearing them spend their days teaching at - not attending - Broadway High School and Hillyard.

They came to the polished floor Thursday to trash talk and sweat it out head to head, all in the name of charity. The faculty game was a fundraiser for the Rockingham Educational Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships and grants for school programs.

The foundation has four large-scale annual fundraisers, but this year local schools offered to host additional events, according to a REFI official.

"At a time when the economy is down and many of our businesses can't be as supportive, [it helps]," said Janet Wendelken, the foundation's executive director.

Teachers Determined To Win

While the purpose of the game was noble, teachers on both teams entered the match determined to win.

"We'll play our best; I know they'll play their best," said Don Rhodes, who teaches agriculture at Hillyard. "I do hear that Broadway's going to win. Of course, that's all hype."

Indeed, the Broadway fans and team members were supremely confident, mostly thanks to the presence of Zach Yoder on their side of the ball. Yoder, a science teacher at BHS, also is an alumnus of the school who holds the Goblers' all-time basketball scoring record. He couldn't recall the exact number of points he racked up in his high school career - "around 1,600," was his guess - but shared the opinion that his team would prevail.

"We're just superior, athletically," he said, adding a dig at his middle school colleagues: "They're still going through puberty, and we're in high school."

In the end, the hype proved correct. The BHS teachers bested the Hillyard crew, 71-59. But there were no hard feelings among the players, who lined up and slapped hands after the game.

"There is no shame involved," said Doug Alderfer, Hillyard's principal. "It's all for charity."

Rhodes agreed, but hinted at a rematch.

"We look forward to doing it bigger and better next year," he said.

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Contact Kate Elizabeth Queram at 574-6272 or kqueram@dnronline.com

 

Photos by Janet Wendelken