Over 100 spectators watched teachers face off against students from the boys’ and girls’ water polo team in the natatorium on Aug. 27.
Gary Johnson, the AP/IB Physics 1 teacher and water polo coach created the Teachers vs. Students game to raise money for the water polo team. The water polo team collected over $1,000.
“It started four years ago, just as something fun to work as a fundraiser for the water polo team, which was brand new,” Johnson said. “We had a really good time playing. The teachers get involved. It gets students that normally don’t see water polo to come and watch the game.”
A dozen teachers faced off against 13 students. According to junior and player Micah Love, water polo held the game earlier than usual to raise awareness about the program.
“A lot of times, people don’t know we have a water polo team, even though we have a massive pool,” Love said. “They don’t know who’s on the team, they don’t know how [to] join the team. They don’t know who the coaches are. With there being a game, they come and see it and it gets them more interested. They might want to come to our regular season games or say, ‘Hey, I want to join the team.’”
Water polo recruited the teachers through announcements and personal invitations. Some of the teachers who participated had played in the previous teacher water polo game two years ago.
“If they didn’t play before, it was just teachers [that] are really typically good hearted about it and willing to join and do things to help us raise money,” Love said. “Because they know through doing their own clubs or coaching on teams, that fundraising is something that people might struggle with, so they’re willing to help.”
However, this wasn’t why Pre-AP World Geography teacher Juanita Camarillo agreed to play. Two of her previous students, Lillian Snell, the captain of the water polo team, and player Eric Spencer asked her to play.
[I went] mainly because Lillian and Eric, [two water polo players] hounded me,” Camarillo said. “Plus, last year, Nicole, the girls captain, literally wrote [the water polo game] down in my yearbook. I felt guilty telling them no, but after what Nicole wrote, I was like, ‘I guess I’ll do it.’”
Even though Camarillo didn’t initially want to play, she still “had a lot of fun.” Camarillo also emailed around 20 teachers to spread the word and encourage participation. Teachers played many roles in the game, with Johnson acting as referee.
“I think everybody had a good time because the students treated the faculty well,” Johnson said. “The students had fun. Everybody got a chance to play. We rotated everyone in. It’s a good event between the faculty and the students that really creates a different sort of camaraderie within the group. It was a really fun time.”
Keep up with the Water Polo team on Instagram @bellaire_wp.
