Sport in Society's Project Teamwork is Making Wake

By Ally Peebles

(1-20-09) Wakefield, Mass. � Good chemistry is always an asset in sports. In Wakefield, Mass., Sport in Society's team of outreach specialists, Dave Hoffman and Liz Feldhusen captured that chemistry with a classroom of seventh grade students who were there to learn about diversity through Sport in Society�s Project Teamwork program.

Hoffman and Feldhusen established a space where students could have a safe, open dialogue about race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and the inequalities present in society. Students learned of the perils that people of various backgrounds face on a day-to-day basis simply because of the color of their skin or who they choice to love.

Focusing on and engaging children, similar to this seventh grade class, helps society deter discrimination from an early age. Feldhusen and Hoffman found the group was attentive and responsive to the curriculum in the Sport in Society Playbooks. The effectiveness of the curriculum and in reaching the students relies heavily on students and facilitators being honest with one another, which Sport in Society and Wakefield students eagerly accommodated. The result was a hugely successful training.

Their one-hour session was quickly paced. Always wishing they had more time, Hoffman and Feldhusen covered key points, for example an open conversation about the power of language, particularly the role of jokes about being gay or black in silencing people. Toward the end of the session the Project Teamwork team was able to get a sense of how effective their lesson was when, one young girl asked, why people could hate another so much. In simple terms she posed a very complicated question. Though neither her classmates nor the facilitators could give a definitive answer at least the dialogue has begun.