Becky Weiland ‘13| Staff Writer

As one of the last events of their high school careers, the seniors will take on the staff for the annual Senior versus staff softball game on Monday, June 4 at 4 p.m. on the boy’s baseball diamond, math teacher and event coordinator Tom Schultz said.  The game hopes to draw other students to enjoy the new additions to the event.

A rain-out date is scheduled for the following day, Schultz said.

The game became a tradition for the graduating seniors and staff about ten years ago, Schultz said.  Schultz taught at North where they first organized the event and decided to bring it to South.

This year, the School Climate Committee (SCC) has worked alongside Schultz to incorporate new changes to the event, math teacher Jackie Shelson said.  The SCC is group of teachers who meet during PLC time and are mainly in charge of organizing staff camaraderie.  The committee’s goal in this event is to help publicity and bring in more participants. 

Shelson, Health teacher Dan Griesbaum, science teacher James Adams and math teacher Lisa Kurtz along with the rest of the SCC have worked on this event to get more of the staff involved but also to bring in other students to come watch the event.

“Our committee wanted to jump on board to make it bigger with some of the money we’ve raised this year,” said Shelson.  “Many more teachers and students are participating this year.  We usually get around 15-20 participants for each team but this year we have about 30.”

A new change for this year’s event is that it will help raise money for charity, Shelson said.  The staff will be wearing light blue shirts in support of prostate cancer and the seniors will be wearing pink shirts in support of breast cancer.  The hope is that students who come to watch will offer a minimal donation to whichever organization they choose to support.

To encourage other staff and students to come and watch the event, there will be a raffle, shirt toss, and an open concession stand, Shelson said. 

“It’s a fun way to see the staff in an informal environment,” said Shelson.  “You get to see them bat and field a ball, and be in a setting which is much more casual compared the classroom.”

Social studies teacher Tom Briske is especially excited for this year’s game because it will be his last before his retirement at the end of this year.  Participating in the event since its beginning, Briske will finish his tenth game on the pitcher’s mound.

“I like pitching and playing softball with the seniors,” Briske said.  “It’s one of the few things you can do where you’re on an equal basis.”

With almost a perfect record other than their loss last year, the staff has more motivation to redeem themselves, science teacher Jessica Haggerty said.  A veteran participant from last year’s game, Haggerty said the event is fun for all students and staff.

“I played last year and it was lots of fun,” said Haggerty.  “I’m excited for this year because I’ll know more of the seniors having taught some of them last year.  The one memory from last year is our loss so this time we’re ready to win.”

Sarah Graves and Madi Kaiser both ’12 are ready to take on the challenge, they said.

“Briske and Schultz will be the biggest competition because of their experience,” said Graves and Kaiser.  “It will be a fun game and we’re looking forward to spending quality time with the rest of the seniors.”

Pat Sattelmeier ’12 will be playing for the seniors with the goal of beating the teachers for the second year in a row and hitting a home run, he said.  “It’s all about the team camaraderie and it’s a fun way to end our high school career off,” said Sattelmeier.