A Wonder-Full Experience

 Saturday was a big deal for the Grade 8 students at Agnes Macphail Public School, and not just because it was the eve of Lunar New Year. The students, with some parents and teacher supervisors (including yours truly), were special guests at the Toronto Raptors NBA game.

This is a great opportunity for me to employ my 2023 word, "lift". I want to lift up the efforts of this amazing class and their dedicated teacher, Farah Wadia.

As I shared in one of my December 2022 blog posts, Farah's class entered and won an essay contest about Lincoln Alexander. The grand prize was an all-expense paid experience at the January 21 Raptors vs Celtics game. 

I didn't expect to be one of the chaperones, but Farah needed supervisors and invited me. I call it a "wonder-full" (as opposed to "wonderful") event because it contained so much awe and wonder. You see, it was my first time to the Scotiabank Arena and my first time watching a professional basketball game.

I worried a bit that the experience would be "wasted" on me because I am not a basketball fan. There's also the chance that this experience will "spoil" me because I won't have an opportunity like this ever again, and this is a very atypical way to watch a game. I'm glad I went and I promise it won't spoil me or be wasted.

Huddle Up, the organization arranging this prize, chartered a couple of school buses to transport all of us to the Scotiabank Arena. That place is HUGE! Once there, we got to sit courtside to take photos until our "gondola" (exclusive suite) was ready. The seats had a bird's eye view of the game as well as free pizza, wings, hot dogs, snacks and drinks. During the pre-game show, Farah and Arianne, the student who wrote the winning essay, were interviewed live. A special, pre-recorded session featuring the class hearing the good news for the first time was also broadcasted on the Jumbotron and on TV.  

Watching the game was a learning experience for me. Basketball is a fast-paced game and I really appreciate how Renee Keberer, a fellow teacher and good friend, was able to explain the intricacies of the game, such as the significance of all the clocks (e.g. 24 seconds to take a shot when in your section of the court) and the different kinds of fouls. I was surprised to learn that in basketball, music plays continuously during the game and that gameplay stops so that the viewing audience has time for commercials. (The live audience is treated to mini-give aways and other interactive elements like the "crowd camera".) This really piqued my media literacy interest, in how the televised portion of the game dictates the real-live rhythm of the game, and the commercial implications. The way they ran the land acknowledgement and anthems, as well as the various "message announcements" sprinkled throughout showed the value messages and setting of the basketball court helped shape the experience, since form and content are so closely related. I was amazed that this was the same venue for a hockey game, because it felt so different - proving that media have unique aesthetic forms. (For instance, the photo below shows the Scotiabank Arena after the audience was prompted to turn on the flashlight feature on their photos for this portion - in the past, it would have been a request to ignite your cigarette lighter!)

(The last photo in this sequence of four includes several of our staff members - some were trying out the Snapchat Challenge posted on the Jumbotron for a chance to win swag!)

After the game ended, with a very close 104-106 loss for Toronto, the group was escorted back down to courtside and we were fortunate to meet Lincoln Alexander's granddaughter as well as three Toronto Raptors players. Farah prepared for the moment by getting her students to pre-generate some questions for the athletes (with the students never realizing that they'd actually get personal time with these gentlemen) so it was well-used time. A lot of photos were taken, as you can imagine. I have to say that professional basketball players are really, REALLY tall.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not every average basketball game ends with a meet-and-greet like this. Even though I did not know the men who came to speak to us, the students did and were so excited for the chance.

Big thanks to everyone who made this possible. Even though it was Arianne's essay that won the contest, every student in Farah's class researched and wrote about Lincoln Alexander. (Their class decided which of the essays to submit for consideration and they voted for Arianne to represent them.) So, congratulations to all the Grade 8s in Room 207. Special recognition should go to Farah Wadia, who worked tirelessly from the beginning of this adventure, training her students to write thorough essays, to the great reveal (with special media release forms, organizing the visit), to finalizing all the trip details (including permission forms, bus seating plans, coordinating interview schedules, and including as many people as she could). She and Arianne represented our school with intelligence and grace. Thanks go to the Raptors organization as well as Huddle Up. I didn't get the names of all the people escorting us places, passing out wristbands, shepherding us to different locations, and more, but their service was so appreciated. Go Raptors, go!