Building a Team with America SCORES Seattle

Coach Michael Werth is a physical education teacher at Madrona Elementary School, one of the first schools where America SCORES Seattle restarted programming in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic. Werth joined the affiliate as a coach for the fall 2022 season. “My principal came and told me about SCORES, and having COVID for the last few years, I wasn’t able to interact with the kids or have that role,” he says. “I always envisioned myself being a coach, so it seemed like an easy transition.”

During lockdowns, which moved SCORES programs across the country online, some America SCORES affiliates found it harder to retain students and continue programming. However, with COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, SCORES programs including Seattle are making up for lost time and revamping their programs with new coaches and new leadership.

Jumping Into Gamedays

When Madrona began the SCORES program in 2022, the team had plenty of interest from students, some of whom had never played soccer before but wanted to try the sport. As programming got back up and running in the fall of 2022, leagues started from scratch with fewer players initially. “There was only one other school that did [SCORES],” says Werth, “but when we did have a game, it was a lot of fun. And our kids worked really hard, so it was really rewarding”.

Gamedays were a chance for the Madrona team to learn more about the game of soccer and have fun while doing it. “We really try to teach kids that it’s not about winning, it’s about effort, it’s about respect,” says Werth.

Building a Love for Poetry

Poetry programming at Madrona was led by Phe’Shay Locke, a kindergarten teacher at the school. A published author and poet in her own right, Phe’Shay loved being able to share her love for the art[form] to her students. Practices started with journalling and lessons about different styles of poetry, which students then put into practice in their own writing.

The shorter practices helped students pare down their work, and use brevity to get their point across. “I think that the challenge was really just time and getting them to really be crunched down and simplify their poems or elaborate as much as they can and memorize in such a short amount of time,” says Locke.

Even so, the team successfully wrote and memorized their poems to showcase at America SCORES Seattle’s first poetry slam since the pandemic. After preparing all season, the team at Madrona put on a fantastic show to wow their teachers and peers alike.

Both coaches Locke and Werth fondly remember hosting the other Seattle SCORES schools and seeing their poet-athletes take the stage.

“We felt like we were walking into a professional performance,” says Locke, recalling how their principal invited the Seattle Sounders, the local MLS team, to the Madrona auditorium, which was set up to create the full ambiance of a theater.

A Lasting Impact

After their first season together, the SCORES team at Madrona Elementary have seen so much growth for their poet-athletes, and a newfound love for the after-school program.

“I think we have a lot of kids that probably never thought about soccer that are really interested in it now,” says Werth, “and most of the kids that participated in the poetry built a huge amount of confidence in themselves.”

The poetry slam also helped foster interest for the art form across the school. Coach Locke says her poet-athletes were so enthused that they shared their original poetry in their other classes during the school day. “They love writing poetry, they love creating poetry,” Locke says. “I love that they are starting to love something that I love”.