Oregon Soccer Gives Back to Community: Part 3
The Oregon women’s soccer team concluded their community service series earlier this month when they went to Adams Elementary School for their third and final event of the spring and helped out with the school's end of year carnival. Senior forward Brooke Strawn writes about a special day that included everything from impromptu percussion ensembles to dunk tanks.
By Brooke Strawn
Senior Forward
All 21 of us volunteered at Adams Elementary School during their annual end of the year carnival. As a part of the Oregon women’s soccer team, we are fortunate enough to live in the friendly and involved community of Eugene. We made it our goal this academic year to hold three service events to show our community how grateful we are for their support. In the process, we had a lot of fun with kids and parents while we learned how to fish, how to best encourage physical activity at Bertha Holt Elementary and best of all, how to celebrate the end of the school year with students from Adams Elementary.
It was a hot Friday evening when we showed up to help set up the carnival. We brought our own mini goals and soccer balls for the soccer station, but also helped out where we were needed. Our main goal was to get them excited, get them involved and have fun with them. At one point in the evening, we had a competitive game of kickball with the elementary students. Some of us also worked at other stations. Miranda Schulz, a sophomore midfielder, played an elaborate percussion ensemble with the kids while Abby King and I managed the beanbag toss.
Without a doubt, the best attraction at the carnival was the dunk tank. For a few dollars, the elementary students had a couple of chances to dunk their teachers into the freezing water. The line wrapped around the building as the principal, Kevin Gordon, stepped into the dunk tank. After he survived being dunked several times, some of us volunteered as dunk tank victims and the kids became even more excited. Thank you to Miranda Schulz, Marlo Sweatman and Madison Wiegand-Brown for your bravery! In the end, I don’t know who had more fun at the Adams Elementary Carnival - us, or the kids. Either way, it was a great experience giving back to the Eugene community.
