School club spells f-u-n
Ardena School pupils enjoy time spent playing Scrabble
BY TOYNETT HALL
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ Fourth-grader Austin Kroeger waits for Abigail Donio to make a move as they enjoy a game of Scrabble at the Ardena School, Howell.

HOWELL - It is 3:15 p.m. and nine Ardena School children are rushing to the Scrabble Club to form words like ZEN, SEARS and KEEL. This after-school program, which was intended to last four weeks out of the school year, has become a close-knit group of pupils who are not only learning about new words, but about each other as well.

According to Principal Deborah Pennell, "The Scrabble Club is the brainchild of Jean Appow who came to me during a PTA meeting and asked if she could form this club for fourth- and fifth-graders as a way to build their word power, phonetic awareness and word recognition."

Appow explained that "people in the PTA were looking for some form of enrichment program for the kids after school. There are so many things in a day that the kids do. I think when they are put in a more relaxed environment it's a great opportunity for them to learn."

Fourth-grader Claire Appow checks the spelling of a word while her partner, fifth-grader Chelsea Peniston, waits her turn during an after-school game of Scrabble.

Ardena School PTA President Nancy Donio said there are a lot of educational benefits to playing Scrabble.

When the children play Scrabble, "they are assisted with their spelling skills, logic skills, math skills and dictionary skills. Scrabble is a great way to incorporate all of these skills which they are learning in the classroom," Donio said.

In addition to reinforcing the classroom curriculum, Appow said Scrabble also teaches life lessons.

"I think they are learning how to problem solve and to work on a team by helping each other. When they get older and are working in the real world, they will use these skills to fall back on," Appow said.

Fourth-grader Joseph DeMatteo said he enjoys spending extra time after-school playing Scrabble.

"I like it because it's a time to relax, have fun, be with your friends and meet new people," Joseph said.

Katelyn Brede, 10, said, "It's really fun. If you have never played Scrabble before, you can have a new experience. And it's something to do on a rainy day."

Austin Kroeger, 9, expressed a similar sentiment and is encouraging other children to join the club.

"They don't know how much fun it is. They're missing out," Austin said.

In addition to the fun, learning and possibility of winning a Scrabble set, Pennell said the initiative has strengthened the youngsters academically.

"The teachers are seeing an improvement in their letter recognition, word recognition and vocabulary," Pennell said.

According to Donio, the next program on the PTA's agenda will be a sign language club.

"We have a mom who knows sign language who is willing to volunteer her time and teach it to the children. We are hoping to start that program at the end of April after spring break, continuing into May for about six weeks," Donio said.