WALNUTPORT, Pa. — It's no slam dunk, but Lehigh Elementary School is hoping to soon meet the Harlem Globetrotters.
The school just won $1,000 and is a national finalist in a creativity challenge co-organized by the Harlem Globetrotters and Jersey Mike's Sub's on the subject of basketball, a news release said Tuesday.
- Lehigh Elementary School just won $1,000 as national finalists in a creativity challenge
- Next week, it will find out if is the grand winner, which would get it a visit from the Harlem Globetrotters
- For the contest, pupils at Lehigh Elementary invented their own basketball hoops, and held competitions with them around the classroom
Now, it's hoping for a winning shot. If chosen as the grand prize winner, it will get a visit from the world-famous basketball team.
'Let's give it a shot'
A parent originally told Kelly Allabach, who teaches fifth grade English Language Arts classes, about the contest.
She'd already been doing science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, challenges with her students throughout the year. She thought it sounded like a fun one to do during March Madness, since so many of her students are sports fans.
So she entered the contest on a whim.
"I said, 'OK, let's give it a shot," Allabach said.
For the contest, Lehigh Elementary pupils invented their own basketball hoops and held competitions with them around the classroom.
"There's a way for them to practice their reading comprehension, use their creativity," she said, and "have a lot of fun with basketball all at the same time."
They had 20 minutes to build a basketball hoop using supplies such as pipe cleaners, scissors, string and tape and straws.
Allabach said she played songs from the movie "Space Jam" as the students worked.
"It's just total creativity — however they could build a basketball hoop," she said.Kelly Allabach, teacher at Lehigh Elementary School
"It's just total creativity — however they could build a basketball hoop," she said.
"They would read different questions and then if they got a question correct, they were allowed to take a shot in their hoop," Allabach said.
They also competed against the kids at their table.
She opened up an email with the good news right after the class took a Pennsylvania statewide test.
"We were very excited to hear that we were a finalist," Allabach said. "I had no clue we were gonna come close."
'Love to see them be creative'
Allabach said that in the past, she's held similar challenges, including for baseball season and for the Super Bowl.
"I try to incorporate sports as much as possible because I know that it's something that they really enjoy," she said.
"I love to see them be creative," Allabach said. "When we can bring the sports and reading into it, it's a win-win situation."
She said hopes to use the prize money to buy fun treats for all the students in the school, such as ice cream.
"Our fingers and toes are crossed and hoping that we win."Kelly Allabach, teacher at Lehigh Elementary School
"Our fingers and toes are crossed and hoping that we win," she said.
Entries from other schools included Harlem Globetrotter-inspired art, musical numbers, trick shot videos and incorporating basketball into various subjects or hobbies.
The contest is part of an effort to promote healthy lifestyles, teamwork and creativity among young people.