Washington and Tamaques Teachers Take to the Court for Charity

Teachers from Washington and Tamaques Elementary Schools battled Wednesday night at for a series of three volleyball games that raised funds for the Westfield Rescue Squad.

With the near deafening roar of hundreds of the schools’ students in the background, Tamaques teachers quickly scored first, and went on to defeat Washington’s teachers 25-9 in the first game. Tamaques School led off the second game with another quick point, and was soon nearly 10 points ahead of the Washington teachers. 

With teacher Mike Bukowsky serving, Washington quickly racked up several points and made a comeback to win the second game 27-24. But the Tamaques Tigers pulled ahead again, with a 25-15 win in the third game against the Washington Wildcats.

Daniel Cano, a Washington School 2nd grader, enjoyed seeing his teacher, Denise Friebely, play in the game, but says that his favorite parts of attending this annual fundraising event are “getting to yell at the other team, and seeing Washington win!”

Washington School’s principal Dr. Andy Perry, summed up the event this way: “The state of New Jersey recently released a 15-page report card for Washington School. I looked. Nowhere could I find where it said anything about the character of a school where 400 kids and parents come out to cheer on their teachers in a volleyball game. I couldn’t find any measure of “community spirit” – why students and teachers and parents would do this in order to raise $3,000 for the town’s rescue squad. I did not see any pictures of smiling faces, proud of their teachers, and delighted to see them cheering each other on and modeling how to play as a team (and how to lose with grace and style). What we all saw tonight was the heart of Westfield.”