Every year Bellcate School hosts a basketball game in the Spring, and that game determines which of the two existing teams is better at basketball for one year. There are two teams – the aforementioned student team and the teacher team – setting up the classic kids vs. adults scenario. Both teams compete to win the title of best Bellcate basketball team of the year. That team will hold this title for one calendar year! After that year the title can be recaptured or taken from either team. But this year was special because instead of having chalk doodles on the parking lot for a court we had something else. Since January, our community has been working and planning to build a new building and create a bigger campus. And now it’s ready to be used! Bellcate school’s new building has a new kitchen, a better weight room, new bathrooms, and some new offices. But all those things are side rooms connected to something better and a lot bigger. Bellcate now has its own full-size basketball court with brand new flooring and our school logo in the center, and it was not open until the day came when the title expired, and it was up for grabs once again – on the day of the basketball game.

We all left the main building and walked down the road to the new building, took our shoes off and took the tour of the new space.  We then settled down in the bleachers and watched the teams warm up. It was super fun; we had music and were all waiting for the two teams to appear. Then the students came from one side of the room running through a banner, tearing it in half, and the staff ran out of the other side.  The game finally started, and it was intense.  The struggle was real, everyone ran up and down the court shooting here and there and passing left and right. The students took the lead for the first half, but the staff came back and surpassed the students in the second half. The score slowly evened out and the students won by 2 points in the end! After that we had cookies, packed up our stuff, and walked back to the main building and continued with our day.  The opening of Lily’s Gym was a success, especially fore the students, who are crowned basketball champions for another year!

~ Written by Jay