December 26, 2014 at 4:37 p.m.
Central Intermediate School students practice math, problem solving at holiday Cribbage party
Central Intermediate School students practice math, problem solving at holiday Cribbage party
Once all the studying is done though, it's time for the classroom holiday parties. Some classes watched videos. Some enjoyed cookies and holiday-themed games. The Central Intermediate School students in rooms 406 and 411, however, are into something completely different.
In those rooms, high-stakes games of Cribbage were played as teachers Shari Wendland and Sara Kohlhepp continued their traditional holiday cribbage tournament Tuesday.
"I've been using cribbage for probably 20 years now," Wendland said. "I started when I was teaching over in Menomonie where I used to work. It's a great math game so I've continued it here."
The cribbage games have since taken on a life of their own. It's not just a few games here and there anymore. These days, it's a full-blown tournament that is combined with a holiday party. That means it's not just the students participating in the tournament, it's friends, family, district administration and school board members, too.
"When my grandparents were alive, I'd always play with them and it just was a fun family game, especially at the holidays, so instead of doing movies for Christmas parties, I started doing cribbage tournaments," Wendland said.
"The kids love it. Their parents and grandparents and friends love it. It's a lot of fun, but it's also a great learning tool."
While moving their pegs and trying to beat the person across the board from them, the students learned and improved their math and problem-solving skills.
"Fifth grade, and fourth grade, too, because we involve both grades in this, is a great time to learn cribbage because the kids needed to learn how to count better, and they needed to get better at counting not only by 15 but by two as well," Wendland said.
"It's just a great math game and it's great for improving problem-solving skills, too. And it helps the kids realize math is fun and how much fun it is being a problem solver. They'll come over to me and ask me what they should do and I'll just turn that around on them and ask them what they think they should do, and they'll tell me and we'll go over why they think that's the way to go and that helps them with their problem solving. It's really a great problem solving, strategizing game. Plus a little bit of luck, of course."
Wendland said the cribbage lessons aren't just for learning, though. It's also a game the kids can play with others.
"Having an activity that they can play with family members and friends without having to turn on an electronic game, I think, is really important these days," she said.
"This can be a game that they play with anybody. Last week, we went to the Rhine Haus to do some caroling and some of the kids brought out the cribbage boards and played with the residents. It was really fun."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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