TEAM Cramer’s Day at the Cubs

On Thursday, April 13, Mrs. Jodi Cramer’s 4^th grade class took the field trip of a lifetime … all the way from Walt Disney Elementary School on North Filbert Road, Mishawaka to Wrigley Field at Clark and Addison on the North Side of Chicago!

For some of her students, it was their first time to Chicago and it was definitely the first Cubs game for the majority of “TEAM Cramer.”

The students were treated like celebrities from the minute of they stepped off their Royal Excursion bus. Anxiously awaiting the arrival were South Bend’s three TV stations, Cubs representatives and P-H-M Administrators.

The students were beyond excited, not sure what or where to look first trying to take in all the sights and sounds of Wriglyeville. They were whisked away to begin their V.I.P. tour of the stadium that included an on-field photo opportunity. The class’ personal tour guide gave the students all the historical background on the Cubs from the team’s creation and first name the “Chicago Chickens,” through the “Loveable Loser” years, all the way up to present day as the 2016 World Series Champions. And the kids soaked it all in, relishing every last detail.

The most exciting part of their day was of course the game … and what a game it was! The students not only saw a shutout game with the Cubs winning 4-0 against the Dodgers. They also saw not one, but two homeruns, one from Anthony Rizzo and the other from Addison Russell. They also witnessed two amazing catches against the ivy by Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. It was a chilly day at the ballpark, but all the cheering definitely warmed the students up!

Their treatment as little celebrities continued throughout the game with a 5^th inning video board welcome from the Cubs to the students. And during the 7th inning stretch singing of “Take me out to the ballgame,” some of the students got the extra thrill of being featured on the video board.

Want to know the full back story of how TEAM Cramer made it all the way to Wrigley? Click here.

Click here to see the full photo gallery below to see how their day unfolded.

Click the links below to watch the local TV news coverage:

• ABC 57 “Fourth grade class gets opportunity of a lifetime at Wrigley Field”
• WNDU-TV “Local 4th graders treated to trip to Wrigley Field as guests of the Cubs”
• WSBT-TV “Walt Disney fourth-grade class takes trip to see the Chicago Cubs”

The Road to Wrigley
 

The best ideas come from the heart and are inspired by the desire to help. Such was the case with teacher Mrs. Jodi Cramer.

Working to help a student pass IREAD and to encourage more reading, she picked a book called “The Hero Two Doors Down,” a true story written by Sharon Robinson, the daughter of the baseball legend Jackie Robinson, that she and the student could read together. The story is about an eight-year-old avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan in 1948 who has the tremendous luck of having Jackie Robinson and his family move into his Brooklyn neighborhood … just two doors down … and the friendship that later blossoms between the two.

Mrs. Cramer used the story’s “anything is possible” theme to illustrate to her student that he could pass his standardized test despite his doubts. Mrs. Cramer’s idea to reach and motivate the student was slowly taking shape; not only did he love the story, but a love for baseball developed. Mrs. Cramer, an avid baseball fan, explained the sport as they read through the book together; the boy had never seen a baseball game. While he enjoyed the story, the student still felt that some things would always be out of reach for him … not just passing IREAD, but that he would never see major league baseball game in person. This was something that Mrs. Cramer could not accept (we’ll come back to this later).

Mrs. Cramer saw how well the baseball theme was working to motivate this one student, so she thought ‘why not expand it to the whole class!’ Her class was made up of 22 very diverse learners: several New English Language Learners, students below grade level and students at grade level. She sought to create a team atmosphere in her classroom. So she gave her class a team name, just like a sports team, and what better sport to motivate them … baseball of course!

It was early fall 2016 beginning of the school year (right before the November post season playoffs began). Mrs. Cramer had to pick a team that they could relate to and identify with. And the Chicago Cubs fit the bill. Being so close to Chicago, most people in the South Bend/Mishawaka area are either Cubs or White Sox fans, but the Cubs had a well-known  history of struggling to overcome the odds. She named her team “TEAM Cramer.” ”—each letter in TEAM standing for … Together Everyone Achieves More!

She decided she would use the baseball theme to prepare the students for Spring ISTEP … or as she came to call it “Opening Day” since Round I would be in early April, just like the start of the baseball season.

Mrs. Cramer even got her students “jerseys” (Chicago Cubs t-shirts with “TEAM Cramer” on the back). Students wore their shirts on all their big academic days, and later on ISTEP testing days. She named her classroom “Cramer Field,” modeled after Wrigley Field. She made a marquee to hang over the entryway as students entered the classroom. While inside, she created a replica of Wrigley’s green scoreboard and decorated the room with Cubs memorabilia.

Coach Cramer developed a rigorous “spring training” regimen to get her team ready for Opening Day. Spring training for her “players” included practicing their target skills, building player endurance and gaining confidence. Each week of spring training leading up to ISTEP testing (Feb. 27-March 10) represented an “inning” with players setting goals for themselves.

The players wrote the goals on paper baseball cutouts, which she placed on a bulletin board. As the players reached their individual goals, they moved their baseball “hitting” it out of the park scoring a run for the class team.

Ms. Cramer kept track of the runs for each week on a large scoreboard in the classroom. If TEAM Cramer scored enough runs in an “inning” (week), the players earned a fun team building activity each Friday. TEAM Cramer’s ultimate goal … knock ISTEP out of the park!

When the Cubs won the World Series against all odds last November … Mrs. Cramer’s students came to realize anything is possible!

Mrs. Cramer herself was now motivated … motivated to make her students’ dream of one day visiting a major league ballpark a reality.

Unbeknownst to her, a friend of Mrs. Cramer had a family member who knew Joe Ricketts, father of Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts. When Joe heard Mrs. Cramer’s story, he shared it with the Chicago Cubs Front Office asking them to invite the kids to Chicago for a V.I.P. tour and a Cubs game.

Mrs. Cramer unveiled the special surprise to her students on March 15.  Click here to see the video and see the pictures of the students’ reaction. And next … they say is history!