A positive (top)spin on education

For the children in St. Louis, what stands out so far is the joy of learning a new sport. "I think it's going to be pretty exciting, because my mom used to play tennis, and I think it might be in my blood," says third-grader Taylor Powel.

"It's fun, and I get to be a part of a team, and it's my school!" fifth-grader Gerardo Rojas adds proudly.

Seventh-grader Rachel Turner says she's playing "because it's different and I wanted to try something new."

Students line up and mimic the motions of Alex Yao and James Wang, a competitive player visiting from China. Then each gets a turn at the table, where he or she learns how to hold the racket (don't call it a paddle) and make contact with the ball. After her turn, a girl runs up to Xu and breathlessly exclaims, "I only lost one ball!"

Second-grade teacher Danny Bellew is one of four staffers trained by Xu over the past few months to become coaches. Practice sessions happen at least twice a week, and will likely extend to Saturday afternoons at a recreation complex downtown. Already he's seen the activity's links to skills needed in the classroom.

Table tennis has sparked a turnaround for one fifth-grader in particular who was getting into trouble in school, Mr. Bellew says. "I took some time out whenever I had a chance to tell him,... 'If you don't make the right choices in the classroom, you're not going to be able to be a part of this.' And I have never seen him so focused."

Whether it's a musical instrument or math or a sport, "We're just trying to help these kids find out something that they're good at and help them hone their skills," says phys ed teacher Brad Slinkard, who felt as though he was back in football camp when Xu started putting him and the other coaches through their paces.

The petite Xu says she's impressed with the support the students receive at school. She can already see that some have a natural proclivity for the sport, but it will take about six months to see if they are seriously interested in practicing enough to become competitive.

Confluence Academy has three campuses and plans to build a high school, where there could be a table tennis team for today's youngsters to grow into. The hope for now is that students will practice enough to be able to compete at local clubs or at other city schools if more teams spring up. There's even some vague talk of a possible table tennis scholarship at Lindenwood University in nearby St. Charles, Mo.

As a mathematician, Principal Polite is dreaming up a way to integrate math lessons and table tennis. And he envisions some of his students someday flying abroad for a competition.

"If I get two kids out of this who take it to a whole other level, then it's success to me," he says.

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