Coldwater High School Engagement Day Divides Student and Teacher Interest

COLDWATER — Coldwater High School students had no academic classes Wednesday morning. Instead, they took part in a special Engagement Day to build connections between students and staff outside the classroom.

Volleyball and pickleball were played in the gyms. There was women’s football outside.

Although students might appear to be lounging around in class, card games, chess matches, and other activities were serious.

Coordinator social studies teacher Karen Kiss explained that students were only at school on Wednesday morning. Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for the afternoon at school.

No cell phones or computers were allowed, “so kids can just interact with each other and the staff in a different way than they would normally do in class,” she said.

Two weeks ago, teachers gave Kiss a list of 60 different activities, including puzzles, quizzes, karaoke, card games, sports, crafts, euchre, tie-dye and more.

When the doors opened at 7:20 a.m., students were running to get passes to the events they wanted to attend.

Kiss said: “It’s like a Taylor Swift concert. When the tickets ran out, they disappeared.”

Each of the four hours, students attended a different event, with a different event each hour.

Kiss said, “We kind of learn from each other, learn from the employees, our hobbies, our interests and take them away from technology for the day.”

At the first Kiss session, Taylor Swift bracelets were made and the boys made them for their mothers.

Over the next hour, Kiss staged kickball outside.

Kiss said, “We can kind of show them what we like to do outside of school and hopefully get them interested a little bit.”

The event, which has been running for three years, is held once in the fall and then again in February so that students visiting the branch’s Career Center in the morning can participate.

Contact Don Reed: [email protected]