New Rivalry: It’s (Indoor) Gaming Club Vs. Outdoors Club

A new year means new rivalries, like the Outdoors Club vs. the Indoor Gaming Club.
By Constantine Petit
Staff Writer
 
A new year means new rivalries, like the Outdoors Club vs. the Indoor Gaming Club.

Mr. Richardson
, the Gaming Club co-organizer, had the idea that since there is a Frisbee vs. Tennis team rivalry, the Gaming Club could have a rivalry with the Outdoors Club.

Mr. Richardson’s idea to have a rivalry with the Outdoors Club came from a summer camp that he went to as a kid where he learned to play D&D. Kids who preferred computers and Dungeons and Dragons called themselves “indoor kids”.

“...how many clubs can say they've successfully defended their community from hordes of the undead? Just us,” said Mr. Richardson, who runs the Gaming Club with math teacher
Mr. Sweeney.

“No one else in the whole school is addressing the encroaching goblin infestation, so someone had to step up and take care of it. It takes real guts to confront the strangest, most grotesque corners of your imagination and do battle there.”  

Mr. Richardson thinks it’s fun to a have a rival, and it boosts interest and attention in the club. Thus far, the rivalry has played out by the advisor of one of the clubs making a comment — usually in assembly — about how their club is better. Then the other advisor makes a good comeback if they have one.

Gaming Club is better, Mr. Richardson says, because: “Everything I like about the outdoors, I can get from pictures and videos (those Planet Earth documentaries are fire!), without having to sweat or get mosquito bites or hide from bears.”
 
THE BENEFITS OF OUTDOORS CLUB

Outdoors Club was started by science teacher
Mr. Prontnicki in 2012. He loves to see the students come to life outside, “often in a way that doesn’t happen while surrounded by the confines of the indoors.”

As far as a rivalry with the Gaming Club goes, Mr. Prontnicki said when he initially got the challenge from Mr. Richardson over which club was better, he laughed.

“Not at the challenge, but at its presentation. Mr. Richardson is a well-spoken, engaging and funny dude. He brings a drum with him to assembly every morning. I can’t compete with that.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t really have to worry about it, though, because the attendance at Outdoors Club events speaks for itself.”

Outdoors Club has had as many as 25 students attend their monthly outdoor events, while Gaming club has up to 15 gamers join their club each week.

Mr. Prontnicki went on to say that he doesn’t have a beef with the Gaming Club, so he can’t really say that his club is better.

“I would, however, argue that many students spend enough time indoors as it is. The outdoors provides certain challenges that cannot be otherwise experienced,” he said.

“I see many kids grow in confidence after dealing with these challenges, even when at first it’s not easy. They step out of their comfort zone and are faced with real situations in which they must problem solve and work together. They almost always come away from the experience with a new perspective and attitude.”

When asked if he was planning to do anything to keep this rivalry going, Mr. Prontnicki said, “I might have a few cards up my sleeve, but nothing I want to share quite yet.”
 
Gaming Club meets every Monday after school in Mr. Richardson’s trailer.
 
Outdoors Club takes one trip per month.
Future trips include:
October 21st Hiking at Hawk Mountain
November 11th Geocaching
December 1st Stargazing
January 20th Disc golf
In the spring: Whitewater rafting, a ropes course, fishing/boating, and more.
 
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Woodlynde School is a private, co-ed college prep day school located in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves intelligent, talented students with learning differences in grades K - 12. Woodlynde provides a comprehensive, evidence-based Kindergartenelementarymiddle and high school program in a challenging yet nurturing environment for students with average to above average cognitive abilities (IQ) who have language- or math-based learning differences (such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia or Dyscalculia), Executive Function Challenges, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or Auditory Processing Disorder. Even for those students without a diagnosed learning disability (LD), Woodlynde offers expert and caring teachers in small classroom settings that support academic success. Woodlynde School also offers a post-graduate (PG) program in partnership with Rosemont College as well as a regional Summer Camp for students who learn differently.