Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
HERRIMAN — Students at Herriman Elementary were dismayed when their principal temporarily banned football and soccer at recess for what she called poor sportsmanship.
"If we ban football and soccer, then we may as well ban school altogether," said sixth-grader Henry Watson.
The students knew principal Kim Gibson had their safety in mind, but they immediately took action.
"We wrote a petition and went around getting people to sign it," said sixth-grader Ethan Probst.
They also launched a safety campaign. It called for producing a video with safety tips to demonstrate best practices, including:
- No tackling during touch football
- Creating a recess safety team
- Playground swing and slide safety
"I like that the principal was trying to keep us safe, but the principal can't do everything," said Watson.
The students took their campaign to the community council, where all their hard work won over council members and the principal.
"The ban was immediately lifted with a stipulation a video would be produced," said Kami Greenhagen-Jones, a member of the community council.
Instead of just whining about it we actually did something to get (recess) back.
–Ethan Probst, 6th grade student
Students produced their video, complete with examples of what not to do on the playground. And the games are on again at recess.
In the process, the sixth-graders learned a valuable lesson.
"Instead of just whining about it, we actually did something to get it back," said Probst.
Contributing: Angelique Reed
