Northview — Ask Caleb Bauman if he’s a competitive person and his eyes will light up.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” said the Highlands Middle School fifth-grader. “I play sports but also I’m very competitive, in board games especially. I like to play Monopoly a lot.”
This spring, Caleb is taking his competitive nature to the pickleball courts set up in the Highlands gym after school on Mondays. He’s learning new skills in a pickleball class that’s part of Northview’s BASE (Belonging and After-School Engagement) programming.
The multi-week classes are offered as a way for students to interact with both adults and peers in a relaxed but structured after-school environment. This session’s offerings include everything from “Bricks-4-Kidz” at the elementary schools to Cooking and Baking Club at Crossroads Middle and Art Club at the high school.
“The goal is to create an atmosphere of belonging to a special group,” said JoAnn VanSlooten, community education director. “This encourages (students) to meet new friends, work collaboratively and simply enjoy the time together in a safe space.”
BASE programs began in 2022 and were funded at first through September 2024 via Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds — federal dollars aimed at addressing the impacts of the COVID pandemic — after a survey of parents and students showed a decreased sense of community and a large interest in a more diverse array of out-of-school options.
At Highlands, teacher Keith Hillary is the leader of the Pickleball Club, an eight-week class that began meeting at the end of January.
“This has been a really fun group to work with,” said Hillary, who learned to play pickleball at family gatherings in Florida. “It is especially enjoyable as a teacher to be able to do some non-academic things with kids outside of the classroom, where we don’t have to worry about grades, assignments or homework. Kids and teachers can just have fun and be ourselves.”
Hillary said the experience level of club members varied widely at the beginning, with some students having never played pickleball before and others who have a court set up in their backyards. He’s viewed his role as a “floater,” sometimes teaching the newbies about rules, scoring and serving, and at other times working with more experienced players to improve their serves and techniques. But all while keeping it casual.
“With the kids that have never played, it’s fun to see how quick they’re getting it — we did a lot of serving the first couple weeks,” he said. “(Now) their serves are going (in) the right place, they’re returning the ball, getting volleys in … Some groups are even getting a little competitive. They’ve come a long way.”
Fifth-grader Lincoln Huisman originally signed up for Pickleball Club because there weren’t any indoor tennis classes after school, he said. He’d played pickleball with his cousins before and found it fun but unremarkable. That opinion has since changed.
“At this point, I think pickleball is better than tennis,” he said. “It’s a bit more fun and less competitive. It’s like a friendly game, and even if you don’t win it’s not like you’re losing everything. … It’s also a bit harder than tennis, because you’re using plastic balls and it doesn’t go as far.”
In class, Lincoln said he’s been working on improving his serving technique and also learning how to spin the ball when he hits it with the paddle, to potentially make the ball harder for an opponent to return.
But it’s not all about athletic skill, said Hillary.
“With this particular age group, academics of course is important, but social skills are just as important,” he said. “(BASE classes) strongly encourage that social piece and … also the idea of sportsmanship. We’re learning how to get along with new people at the same time we’re learning new things, and hopefully they can bring those skills back to the classroom as well.”
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