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Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary students are enjoying a popular outdoor game, thanks to the Patriot Millworks high school woodworking class.
Last year’s Millworks students hinged together eight wood panels for a 25-foot elementary school gaga pit.
The finished pit was finally put into place March 16, to the excitement of the K-5 students.
“The students knew we were getting it earlier this year because we started playing it (Gaga) in gym class,” said physical education teacher Darin DeBoer.
“This way they know all the rules and we’re ready to play it outside on the playground.”
Gaga (a Hebrew word meaning ‘touch touch’) is played in the pit with a ball as a variant on the popular game of dodgeball.
The game combines dodging, striking, running and jumping with the objective of being the last person standing. Players hit the ball at each other with their hands and are eliminated if the ball strikes them on or below the knee.
The district purchased the pit’s metal corner pieces this fall to anchor the pit to the playground’s surface
This year’s Millworks students made improvements to the wooden walled gaga pit, including a redesign.
“The Patriot Millworks class for period six rebuilt the panels by attaching the new corners,” said instructor Chris Louwagie.
“Safety measures that were taken include countersinking the bolts so they don’t stick out past the wood planks, and we also sanded any of the planks where there were splinters or chipped boards.”
Junior Brock Harnack suggested a redesign to students having to step into the pit.
“He thought we could make it handicap-accessible,” Louwagie said. “This is why there is a door in the middle of the one panel.”
A rubber safety mat arrived shortly after the first of the year, with the maintenance staff fully assembling the complete Gaga pit during the warmer weather.
“It gives students another option to do things on the playground,” DeBoer said. “We have had to limit the number of students in the pit because everyone wants to play it.”