Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Friday Afternoon Sports






Just a brief update today, as we enjoyed another athletic event this past weekend.
For this Friday afternoon outing, both the women’s and men’s secondary teams were involved, but attending different tournaments. As I got to join the women on this outing, I will begin with them:
We were scheduled to play Volleyball and Football at Ndola Trust school, around one and ½ hours away from us. School schedules and “real time” being what they are, we were actually 1 hour late. No matter, though: the other team simply waited for us and enjoyed the games once we arrived; in good sportsmanship, I suppose, we even split the winnings equally, with us winning the football match 2:1 and them winning the Volleyball 2:1. Amano’s women played extremely well, and we were quite proud. Another highlight from the day was a surprise reunion with a former classmate—one of last term’s Grade 12 graduates. Coming to see her sister—a student there at Ndola Trust, she discovered her former schoolmates out on the field at the time. This led to an amusing round of mid-game smiles, shouts, and waves . . . and then a flurry of hugs once the game was done [thankfully the ladies were able to refrain until then for the hugs].
While the ladies played in Ndola, the gentleman were at Mpelembe school in Kitwe, in the midst of their first ever Rugby tournament. Many of the Amano men had never played the game before this term, so we were thrilled with their eagerness to play, and their fine sportsmanship displays. They played a solid three games, lasting a good hour longer than expected, so we were happy [and tired!] voyagers back to the school that night.

Monday, February 7, 2011

An Exciting Weekend!








Sport


We have just had a rather exciting weekend here at Amano, combining two crucial aspects of extra-curricular life: sport and science. Friday was the annual ISAZ Copperbelt Cross Country tournament, held here at the school. Last year we also hosted the event, but this was the first time for it to be open to both Primary and Secondary runners. With teams here from Ndola Trust, Lechwe [in Kitwe], and Simba [in Ndola], we had plenty of talented young athletes running around campus [pun intended!]. And when all was said and done, we couldn’t have been more pleased with our Amano team: not only did all our runners finish well, but we actually swept the competition, with our Secondary men and women, and our Primary girls, all getting first place! And they deserved that placement for sure, braving the woods of our property, traversing rivers, and arriving at the finish line mud-splattered and sweat-soaked. I can attest to this, as the number-remover for the runners, being the proud recipient of many sweaty, muddy hugs.

Science


As for the science: On Saturday morning Mr. Andresen took a group of our Science Club students to the annual Secondary Science Fair at Lechwe school. This event allows the students to showcase their trivia skills in a science quiz, as well as to explore scientific possibilities with other schools. Our students are this year focusing on the intricacies of aircraft wing shape, insofar as what shapes allow for the best aerodynamics. No doubt some of our students will carry on to become fine and accomplished scientists and engineers!