Character Building - Cannon School

He’s My Brother
(continued)
No matter how good of an athlete
he is, Jarell expects a lot from his
little brother.
“If he doesn’t do something that I
thought he should have done, then I
get on him more because I expect it of
him,” said Jarell.
The brothers are constantly pushing
each other to get better.
“For me and Jason it’s good because...
they’ve got a lot of experience and they
know what they’re talking about so we
have to listen,” said David.
Jason and David won’t have to listen for
too much longer. Jarell graduates this
year and Keith will be leaving next year.
“I’m going to miss him because he’s my
best friend,” said David. “On the court
it’s going to be a little different because
they do some exciting stuff.”
Cannon students begin physical education in junior kindergarten.
Running Starts
By: Emily Ranson ’12
Jason said he’s also going to miss his
older brother, but he’s excited about
getting the chance to make his own
name on the basketball court.
“For me it’s just a matter of getting my
own name instead of ‘Oh yeah, you’re
Jarell Eddie’s little brother,’” said Jason.
If they have their way, though, Jason
and David will follow their brothers to
whatever school they choose.
The brothers have a connection with
each other that most teammates don’t
have. They even accidentally chose
corresponding numbers: Jarell is 33 and
Jason is 13, Keith is 32 and David is 12.
It’s that connection that makes them so
dangerous on the floor.
“There is a unique cohesion that
comes from being brothers and being
teammates,” said Taylor. “And to have
two sets of them on the same team...is
kind of a unique experience.”
“It leads to a very tight knit fabric on
our team, no doubt about it.”
16 | CANNON MAGAZINE
A good athlete doesn’t become one
overnight. It happens over time. The
Cannon physical education staff works
hard to ensure that Lower School and fifth
and sixth grade students are prepared for
the challenges and rigors of junior varsity
and varsity sports – and for life. Our PE
teachers go beyond in everything they do,
and it shows in the faces of excited Cannon
students entering the gym for another fun
PE experience.
Students begin participating in physical
education in junior kindergarten. Up to
five days a week, students in grades junior
kindergarten-6 migrate from their regular
classrooms to the much-loved “wood” and
“blue” gyms. Anticipation grows as they
enter the gym lobby and they see the many
athletic trophies that line the walls. That
anticipation turns into excitement as they
step onto the gym floor and are greeted by
the welcoming and enthusiastic PE staff.
The young students may not realize it, but
what they are now learning in PE will help
them for the rest of their lives.
The PE staff helps their students develop
physical, mental, and social skills that last a
lifetime, like sportsmanship, cooperation,
physical movement, and a positive selfimage.
They believe that the most important
skills for young students to learn are
eye-hand coordination, how to stretch,
and physical conditioning. These are the
“building blocks” to becoming a successful
athlete and a healthy person.
The coaching staff realizes that it can be
difficult to capture the attention of young
children long enough to teach them the
basic skills of any sport, so coaches have
come up with unique and fun ways to
educate their students. Basic skills form
the foundation of the coaches’ pyramidlike
teaching method, with play time and
strategy built upon that base. In order to
master any sport, these skills need to be
developed in that sequence.
Fun is also a big element in teaching kids.
“We try to encourage them,” says Russ
Marks, a PE teacher for both Lower School
and Middle School students. He believes
that it is vital that students have fun as they
learn basic skills because they might never
again develop skills they need to master at
this early stage.