Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Teachers gear up for competition among themselves

Teacher Games

Heather Cory

From left to right, participants in the Mesquite Teacher Games, Ann Sunstrum, Heather Caldwell, Bernadette Anthony and Michele Yeggie pose for a picture at The Gardens Park on Oct. 30. Sunstrum created the Mesquite Teacher Games, which will be held this weekend. Schools from across Clark County will participate in this first year event, which awards $20,000 to winning schools.

Ann Sunstrum knows the financial woes of Nevada's school system well.

The daughter of retired Clark Country School District teachers and mother of four children in local public schools, she has seen how budget cutbacks have affected funding for school sports.

When Sunstrum, of southwest Las Vegas, brainstormed the idea for the Mesquite Teacher Games last year, she wanted to help locals while having a profitable idea.

"Every school has different needs," said Sunstrum, sales director for Mesquite Resort Association. "I've been at schools that need shade structures or they have built a science lab or maybe it's some of the basic materials teachers can't supply."

The resort association will hold its first teacher games from Nov. 8 to 10 throughout Mesquite for all Southern Nevada private and public elementary, middle and high schools.

Teachers will compete against each other with the chance of winning cash or prizes for an organization or sport at their school.

A total of $20,000, put up by the resort association, will be spread out among the winners in tournament softball, golf skills, basketball, bowling, tennis, gun club, bunco and Texas Hold'em.

"It's a good cause and that money can go toward a lot of things," Sunstrum said. "A lot of coaches end up spending money for team supplies out of their own pockets."

Sunstrum first tried to put the idea into action at the end of June, but the games couldn't generate much interest near the summer break.

Randy Black, owner of the Casablanca Resort and resort association president, said holding the games over Veterans Day weekend will help its popularity.

"It seems to me that if teachers figure out they can come down here, have fun and help raise funding for their schools, this will grow," Black said. "It's a win-win situation for us. We're filling the hotels while giving back to the community."

Bernadette Anthony, a former PTA member helping coordinate the games, said even the smallest amount of cash can help teams buy uniforms or equipment.

Anthony, who has spent a month promoting the games to local schools, said the response has been strong.

"I think because of our economic situation, most schools would use the money for educational purposes in school or maybe a program that has had its funding cut," she said. "I see it for the smaller organizations."

The biggest cash prize will be $5,000, which will go to winning softball team.

In addition to the games, there will be a party with competitions for who can dress up in the best school colors or costume and a contest modeled after the TV show "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?"

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].

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