Dresden Elementary School students were introduced to the fast-growing sport of pickleball during physical education class in February.

Elizabeth Sylvester, a member of the Dresden Recreation Committee, and PE teacher Kadeem Edge introduced pickleball to the students after Edge had been thinking of creating a unit of pickleball for a while. Lacking a net and official pickleball balls, Edge had planned to be creative and substitute a volleyball net and foosball to start the process. Sylvester, with help from other recreation members, instead supplied two nets, pickleballs and some paddles to the school.

A week before the unit was to begin, five Dresden Recreation Committee volunteers used masking and measuring tapes to create the boundary lines for two pickleball courts in the Dresden Elementary School gym. Courtesy of David Griffin

Volunteers from the Recreation Committee created two temporary pickleball courts in the school gym using measuring and masking tapes. Sylvester, a certified pickleball instructor, assisted Edge in teaching the elementary students beginner ball and paddle skills during the four-week unit.

The students will be able to use their newfound skills this summer playing at the Bridge Academy Library pickleball court. The court was built in 2015 when the Select Board authorized an appropriation from the town’s recreation fund which was funded with cable franchise fees. More than 45 volunteers ranging in age from 7–91 helped put in the court.