Jenks School Holds Dodgeball Tourney To Raise Money For Education

Students at Jenks East Intermediate School are not letting state budget cuts get in the way of their education.

Thursday, hundreds of children played in a dodgeball tournament to raise money for their school in the 3900 block of East 91st Street.

The students put their game faces on and took on fellow students and even a team of teachers.

"We don't really have a strategy. We're just going to go in and throw the ball at the other people," said one team leader, James Secrest.

Each match lasted one minute and was your typical dodgeball rules - if you get hit, you're out.

But it was more than which team won, each fifth and sixth grade player paid $20 to compete, and it cost $5 for parents and students who wanted to watch.

The district says the kids raised $10,000 and that money will go to the school for any needs teachers and students have in the classroom.

Principal Linda Reid said, "If a teacher needs something for their classroom that we can't afford in their budget that we used to - sometimes that's as easy as copy paper or ink pens."

The kids love playing dodgeball, but Reid said they're fully aware of the state's budget cuts and how it's affecting them.

"That's one of the things they bring up.  Is that they think I should pay the teachers more. They don't understand that I don't get to choose," said Linda Reid.

The kids said the tournament was a win-win - you get to have fun with friends, and miss a little school, too.