IPS works with area elementary students

Tara Wood, Staff Writer

Interpersonal Skills helped elementary student from across the district participate in the annual Hoop, Holler ‘N’ Shoot throughout the past month

It’s a free throw contest for all the elementary school students in USD 383 where students compete to win $100 for their class.

“There will be two winners at the very end,” senior Marlaina Hummel said. “They’ll go to the Kansas State basketball games and then they’ll shoot to win.”

The Little Apple Optimist Club is the local business that has kept Hoop, Holler ‘N’ Shoot going all these year. With volunteers like IPS students that excite the kids, it doesn’t seem likely to go anywhere soon.

“There’s a professional club in town called the Optimist Club [it’s] just like business professionals in town and they do things to raise money for different causes and things Hoop, Holler, and shoot one of the events that they put on every year,” IPS teacher Eric Eckland said.

For the past month IPS students have been volunteering to go around to all of the elementary schools and help with Hoop, Holler ‘N’ Shoot. Just this past week seniors Katie Spooner and Colton Kirk went to Lee Elementary School to help cheer on the kids as they competed.

“We were watching the girls side and the highest score was two out of the ten but we were just trying to cheer him on. Colton like loves basketball so he was really excited to be there,”Spooner said. “He got kind of mad when he was asked to give it back to the player, but I think it was really cool.”

The kids free throw competition has been going for quite some time, with this being the twentieth anniversary of Hoop, Holler, ‘N’ Shoot. Those that have grown up in the district might remember doing it themselves as kids.

“I know that kids that go through IPS now but remember doing it when they were in elementary school. Seniors in high school can remember doing it so it’s been going on for a long time,” Eckland said. “Our end of it is we provide the student volunteers to go and they… help like check rebounds and organize the kids.”