Phillies in the Classroom

From the BCCT. As we endure a second delay in game 5, area businesses and schools run Phillie red in support of the almost World Series champs.

Schools put Phillies to work in classroom

By HILARY BENTMAN
The Intelligencer

With Phillies phever reaching epidemic proportions, it's no surprise that the excitement has infiltrated the classrooms.

Local school children have been sporting their caps, T-shirts and jerseys, and rallying and cheering for their home team.

But some schools are taking it a step further, incorporating the Phillies and their World Series run into the curriculum.

There is perhaps no better place to do this than in the Souderton Area School District, which helped turn a lanky teenage boy into a World Series superstar.

Last week, fifth graders at Lower Salford Elementary School wrote letters to Phillies southpaw and Souderton alum, Jamie Moyer, offering the veteran athlete some advice for his start against the Tampa Bay Rays in game three on Saturday.

Some of the advice was just sound baseball. Lena wrote, “Keep throwing strikes — they are the key.”

Others, like Cole, offered encouragement. “Do your best and what my coach tells me is "every pitch is a new pitch.' So if you walk one batter, focus on the next.”

And still other advice was just good-old fashioned fun. “Get black makeup and put two lines on your cheeks so you look tough. Pitch very fast and in the middle,” offered Taylor.

School principal Donna Huff compiled the advice and on Friday hand-delivered it to Moyer's mom, who still lives in Souderton. Huff is not sure if Moyer read it, but judging by his commanding performance Saturday, which ended in the Phillies' 5-4 win, Moyer certainly heeded their wisdom.

Nearby at Indian Valley Middle School, teachers were using Moyer's local status to talk to students about the four pillars of character — caring, honesty, responsibility and respect — qualities they say are inherent in their famous graduate, who is known for his extensive humanitarian work off the diamond.

“I know of no one in professional sports that exemplifies (those traits like) Jamie Moyer,” said Doug Henning, dean of students for the school, who said the kids have other sports heroes but see Moyer as a role model.

Souderton students were not the only ones enjoying their Phillies in school.

More than 100 fifth-graders at Quarry Hill Elementary School in the Pennsbury School District had a Phillies Problem Solving Tailgate Party last week.

Complete with hot dogs, banners and Phillies gear, the students had to solve baseball-related math, word and logic problems, and tackle Phillies-inspired word scrambles. Students also ran relay races, featuring multiplication problems and the old spin around on a bat until you're too dizzy to stand.

“We wanted to be able to celebrate the Phillies going into the World Series but we wanted to include academics as well,” said Jen Wodotinsky, one of the fifth-grade teachers involved with the event. “Even though it was educational it was still fun.”