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Rolling down the court, sophomore principal Dr. Joshua Flores smiles at Addie Pardeck (12) while playing in the wheelchair basketball game.
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Searching for a pass, woods teacher Mike Brown gets guarded by Mia Balella (12) while playing in the wheelchair basketball game.
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Pointing at the basketball hoop, Mia Balella (12) watches as teammate Andrew Bryson prepares to shoot the ball at the wheelchair basketball game.
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Preparing to pass the ball, French teacher Kacey Schlotz gets guarded by Cally Campbell (23) during the wheelchair basketball game.
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Jack Mcdonough (35) guards teammate Nora Vaughn after switching to the staff team at the wheelchair basketball game on Feb. 2. The fundraiser took place to help raise money for the travel expenses of the STL Rolling Rams wheelchair basketball team.
Prior to the boys varsity basketball game on Feb. 2, the STL Rolling Rams wheelchair basketball team came to Rockwood Summit and went up against Rockwood staff and faculty. The game ended with the Rolling Rams defeating the staff 30-6. During the fundraising event, money was raised for the Rolling Rams to help cover the travel expenses for their tournaments.
Language arts teacher Keith Pardeck, whose daughter is on the team, was responsible for bringing the Rolling Rams to Summit. He helped to organize the event and was glad to raise money for the kids.
“Every time the team plays, either we have to host a tournament at home or we have to travel somewhere for a tournament. That’s one of the reasons we do these fundraisers because every time you play, you have to travel. It adds up for families. So, the funds that we raised from these fundraisers help support families and help pay them back for having to travel basically every time we compete,” Pardeck said.
Some of the players on the Rolling Rams are future Falcons, which is why Pardeck wanted to bring the fundraiser to Summit specifically.
“[The fundraiser] is something that the team has done at other schools in the area so I was excited to bring it here because we have girls on the team who’ll be future Falcons, coming through [from] Stanton, so it [was] a neat [and a] special thing to do it here,” Pardeck said.
Since this is Pardeck’s first year of teaching at Summit, he was not sure how the community would respond to his idea but he was pleasantly surprised by the reactions he received.
“I was just mostly impressed at the turnout and the support that I got for [the fundraiser], especially considering [that] I’m brand new to the building. This is the first year doing [the fundraiser here, and] part of me thought that teachers would be like, ‘Who’s this guy, and why is he asking me to do stuff?’ But it wasn’t like that at all. I had so many people right away tell me [that] this [sounded] like fun so I was happy and impressed by those [responses],” Pardeck said.
Pardeck believes that the game had a positive impact on the kids and was excited to participate in the sport that he has watched his daughter play for years.
“I think all the kids really enjoyed it. Personally, I thought it was really fun because I’ve been watching these kids play for six years at this point so to be able to get in a chair and [play] with them was a lot of fun. Everyone I’ve talked to [has] been super positive,” Pardeck said.
French teacher Kacey Schlotz had a lot of fun participating in the game and was happy that Pardeck brought the Rolling Rams to Summit. She was also impressed by the skills that the team possessed.
“[The game] was awesome. I had a great time. I think that, [along with] participating in it, it was really fun to see the team that we played against and how talented they were. When we would finally get the ball, and turn around and head down to the other side, they would already be set up under the basketball hoop and they were screening and doing [lots] of things that were really cool,” Schlotz said.
Schlotz also expressed how much of a challenge it was for her and the other staff members to adjust to being in the wheelchairs.
“It was very humbling for us as teachers, because although I consider myself athletic, all of that went out the window when I was in the chair. It was humbling, but really fun to be a part of the energy that was out there,” Schlotz said.
Due to the success of this year’s fundraiser, Pardeck is already coordinating with the basketball coaches and is starting to plan for another next year.
“I’ve already talked to some of the basketball coaches about next year and, if we do it again, hooking up and trying to find a good day to do [it]. Hopefully word of mouth gets out [about it because] I’d like to see a bigger crowd next year and maybe more teacher participation, even though we had tons of teachers participate this year,” Pardeck said.
After the fundraiser at Summit, Pardeck hopes that the Rolling Rams will continue their great season and make it to nationals.
“Two weeks from now, [we play] in Fort Wayne, [then] Indianapolis, and then we’re in Omaha [in] three weeks. Then hopefully the goal is to get to Nationals, which will be in Louisiana,” Pardeck said.
