![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
On September 18, 2023, the Strath Haven Volleyball Team hosted Special Olympics Delco, an organization dedicated to bringing sports to children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, for a joint game and practice.
Special Olympics Delco, or SOPA Delco, arrived after the Haven Volleyball Team played against Conestoga. The varsity team won in three sets, while JV lost in three sets. For those unfamiliar with the rules of Central Athletic League volleyball, varsity plays a best-of-five format while the JV team plays a best-of-three.
Coach Mary Kirschner met the Delco Special Olympics coach last year when she refereed one of their games.
“I said [to the coach], ‘Wouldn’t it be very cool if we could play each other?,’” she said. “And she said they don’t have a lot of access to gyms and have to use them when other schools aren’t using them, and she said they had a big competition coming up on October 1. So this would be the perfect timing for them to play us, so they get extra practice.”
The event consisted of joint practice with serving and receiving before both the SOPA Delco players and the Strath Haven players split up into teams to play against one another. There were teams of six being split almost evenly, usually with three or four players from both Special Olympics Delco and Strath Haven.
SOPA competitions use different rules than normal volleyball in order to make the game fairer for its players.
“In play, each team serves three balls, and then the serve automatically goes to the other team, whether you won those points or not. To make it fair, and make sure everybody has a chance to serve and play,” Kirschner said.
When the Special Olympics Delco and Strath Haven were split into teams for the games portion of the evening, they used the SOPA rules.
“With the way they play, you can only serve it a few times, you rotate a lot more, and you really get more opportunities to play different positions,” freshman Cece Lindsay said.
Overall, many participants had a positive experience at the event.
“It felt really good to see so many people, of all different ages, playing the same sport I do,” freshman Ruth Snediker said.
“I think both teams win in this situation,” Kirschner said. “The Strath Haven players get to see another side of volleyball and get to support their fellow athletes, and the Special Olympics players can benefit from having more practice with people who have been playing volleyball for a long time, so you’d think it’s a win-win for both teams.”
This story was originally published on Panther Press on September 28, 2023.