Mount Lebanon High School's Lebo Legacy Games unites students before Christmas
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- On the last day of school before Christmas break, when most students can't concentrate on learning something new, one local school district turned it into a school-wide bocci tournament.
Five hundred and fifty students at Mount Lebanon High School competed in the "Lebo Legacy Games," and the rest of the student body came to cheer them on throughout the day. Student volunteers served as referees.
The school's special needs students already compete in bocci through the "Unified Bocci" program, and this tournament is inclusive, so everyone can play.
Kat Walters, a Mt. Lebanon High School junior, helped coordinate the event.
"You don't necessarily need to be athletic or have any sort of skill going in (to play bocci). For example, the winning team last year actually didn't know how to play bocci until the day of the event," she explained.
Walters organized the "Lebo Legacy Games" with Mt. Lebanon High School senior Dottie Pieklik. She said it was important that the event was inclusive of everyone and helped bring together the school community.
"We have more than 80 clubs, and we have so many sports teams, but Lebo is such a small community with so many students but such a small area so it's great to be an event where it feels like a small town where everyone can be who they are together."
KDKA-TV's Ron Smiley emceed the finals at the end of the school day. The winning team took home a trophy and bragging rights.
For more on young people doing good things in the community, check out Kidsburgh's website.