Raymond's DC SCORES team holds third Annual Family Fitness Festival

Last Friday afternoon, Raymond Education Campus’ DC SCORES team put on an action-packed day of fun activities for their entire school.

The poet-athletes got in on the fun a little bit, but mostly they made sure things ran smoothly.

After four hours of moon bounces, Zumba dancing, flag football, basketball, tennis, soccer, hula hoops and — yes — a helicopter, the third Annual Family Fitness Festival could be deemed a success.

A huge success.

“I think everything is going great,” sixth-grader Aisha D. said of Raymond’s service-learning project as things wound down. “That makes me happy.”

Aisha has been a part of Raymond’s DC SCORES team for four years and has seen the service-learning project grow each spring.

“(It’s bigger) because more people are here and we have more things like flag football, a carousel and moon bounce,” Aisha said.

She was busy monitoring a popular game of flag football, while across Raymond’s soccer field hordes of students jumped in the moon bounce. Meanwhile, on the blacktop a DJ blared tunes and students played basketball.

Adjacent to the hoops court, students played paddle ball and spun in hula hoops on the tennis court. And down a set of stairs to the school, another moon bounce entertained younger students while a mini train took other youngsters for a ride.

The event “to encourage healthy living and cleaning of our environment” was so popular, Raymond’s DC SCORES team had to entertain students in shifts. In the morning, Aisha was in charge of teaching a young group of students soccer and tennis.

“I was talking about myself and why I like DC SCORES,” she said.

By the end of the event — which began with the arrival of an Army helicopter; Army representatives then talked about the danger of drugs and handed out gifts like Frisbees and books — it was clear that the Raymond community was grateful for a fun-filled day put on by DC SCORES.

And the poet-athletes knew the impact they had made on their entire school community.

“They were ready and they were proud,” said DC SCORES writing coach Cassandra Wilkins.