by KIM HILSENBECK
Students climbing a rock wall. Kids dancing to Zumba. Parents playing basketball with their children. Lots of running around and physical activity.
This may sound like a gym or fitness center, but all of this and more happened last Thursday night at Simon Middle School’s first Family Game Night.
Principals Matthew Pope from Simon and Paige Collier from Hemphill Elementary next door joined forces to get families out of the house and moving.
“We told kids if they brought their family out, we would give them a homework pass,” said Collier, who was there with her own kindergartener. “I printed up 500. They’re almost all gone.”
The game night gave families of the two schools a chance to interact, have fun and participate in a variety of events, sports, games and cooking demonstrations.
Kids could also play video games such as Guitar Hero or a dancing game where they followed the steps on screen by stepping on the matching pads on a machine on the floor.
Mikayla Finley, 13, Aleeya Rodriguez, 12, and Jessie Folks, 12, said they were having a good time at the event and were looking forward to playing basketball and Guitar Hero. They didn’t seem too interested in rock climbing.
On the stage in the cafeteria, Jesus Robledo from Austin Black Belt Academy offered free Tae Kwan Do lessons. In a music room, a Zumba instructor from the YMCA in Buda led a high-energy class. Dance Unlimited of Buda offered dance instruction. Austin Rock Gym harnessed up student after student to climb a simulated rock wall and ring the bell at the top.
Hays CISD Head Chef Bryant Currie led a cooking demonstration highlighting foods with less sugar.
Serving up samples of whole-grain waffles with warm apples or sliced peaches, along with Greek yogurt mixed with fat free cream cheese, Currie said his goal was to introduce parents to lower-sugar alternatives. Instead of sugar, he used honey and agave nectar.
Andreas Olmedo, 5, seemed to enjoy the waffles with the peaches and yogurt mix. The Hemphill kindergartener later counted out how many sugar cubes were in a 24-ounce bottle of Twist lemon-lime soda. When he was finished, Sarah Worden, associate director of child nutrition for Hays CISD, counted out a few more cubes to add to his pile. The total was 28.
His mom, Marcelina Salazar, said she knew soda had a lot of sugar, but “seeing all of those cubes on the plate was a bit of a shock.”
Worden told a group of parents that portion control is important when choosing what kids eat and drink.
While she recommended always offering water as the first choice, she said parents can make healthier choices for their children by being more informed about what all the nutrition information means on the product label. For example, look for drinks with no added sugar, select only 100 percent juice and limit non-water drinks to eight ounces.
In the library, families gathered around tables playing traditional games such as 21, a card game that requires math skills. Nicholas Guerrero and his sons, Alberto, 11, Victor, 14, and Alexis, 8, played the game together.
His father, who spoke only Spanish, had his oldest son translate for him.
“He said Family Game Night is good,” said Victor, as he dealt out another hand.
After a few turns, Alberto, a sixth-grader at Simon, had to count his score from the cards he laid on the table. He added up 11 and 10 and realized he won.
“Oh, I got 21,” he said with a smile.
