THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412130112
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Parents, have you ever wished you could lock the kids in school?
Leave them there overnight?
Do it on a Friday and not pick them up till Saturday morning?
That's exactly what they're doing at Little Creek Elementary, and the kids and teachers love it.
The program is sponsored by Options for Pre-Teens (OPT), which is funded by a special grant the Norfolk Public Schools received from the American Association of School Administrators, according to Kimberly Gray, OPT teacher and Lock-In organizer.
Last Friday, 24 fifth-grade boys and 11 teachers participated in the school-based sleep-in. This Friday, 29 fifth-grade girls chaperoned by nine teachers will get to try it. The kids simply don't go home when school is over; parents pick them up at 7 a.m. Saturday.
During the afternoon they go bowling at the bowling alley across the street. Dinner at a fast-food restaurant follows. Then it's back to the school gym, the center of activities, and the kids are divided into three groups. The boys play basketball, run relay races and work with computers. The girls' activities include a session on skin care, Christmas craftmaking and computers. The groups rotate so that each child has a chance to try each activity.
Later on, it's video time, Jurassic Park or The Flintstones, chosen by the kids, according to Gray. Bingo is scheduled from 1 to 3 a.m., with sleeping optional in case young eyelids start to get heavy. Sleep, if it occurs, is in sleeping bags spread on mats on the gym floor.
Quiet time, involving rest and conversation if not actual sleep, is scheduled from 3 to 6 a.m. Breakfast follows at 6:20 a.m. with awards, both serious and wacky, presented. For high score in bowling or the most gutterballs. For the fastest relay team, the most baskets and having brought the most sweets to the lock-in. At 7 a.m. the party is over.
The kids were selected based on performance, progress and effort, either academic or social, according to Gray. And they love every minute of it.
``It's cool!,'' student David Guzman offered. ``I think it was a good idea. All the schools should try this!''
Classmate Lenard Lanham added: ``It's fun! It's going to be exciting!''
It certainly seemed so as kids rocketed and ricocheted around the gym, shooting baskets, running relays in Santa suits complete with padding, thoroughly enjoying their night out.
``I had to pick five of my students to be here, so I decided to volunteer,'' fifth-grade teacher Daryl Roselle said. ``I like to see kids involved in extracurricular activities and academics; both make a healthy child. I've been in the system five years and this is the first lock-in I've seen. My most tedious job tonight will be watching the door from 2 to 3 a.m.''
Fellow teacher Olivia Jackson, added: ``I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm having a ball. OPT is what's happening!''
Colleague Ken Mayer noted, ``I think it's great. It's a fantastic experience for teachers and students. It gives them a chance to see school in a different light.''
Organizer Gray said, ``I don't believe that any other elementary schools in Norfolk have done it before.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Students at Little Creek Elementary had their sleeping bags, but
there wasn't a lot of sleeping going on.
by CNB