Dearborn Public Schools Offer 'Open Gym' Nights for Students

Building on last year's wildly successful "Basketball and Books" program, Dearborn Public Schools announced that it is bringing back a popular athletic event for middle school students for the fall.

The district will partner with the Dearborn Parks and Recreation Department to offer open gyms at O.L. Smith Middle School on Monday nights and Woodworth Middle School on Wednesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. The program runs until Dec. 18.

No registration is necessary, and there are no costs for the drop-in program. Only students enrolled in a DPS middle school are eligible to attend. Gyms will be monitored by an adult supervisor and student volunteers from Dearborn's three high schools.

"The idea is to offer a night where children can experience a variety of non-competitive sports in a safe and supervised location," said David Mustonen, communications coordinator for the school district.

The current schedule of events include:

• Oct. 7 and Oct. 9: Basketball
• Oct. 21 and Oct. 23: Volleyball
• Nov.  4 and Nov. 6: Basketball
• Nov. 11 and Nov. 13: Tennis
• Nov. 18 and Nov. 20: Basketball
• Nov. 25 and Nov. 27: Soccer
• Dec. 2 and Dec. 4: Volleyball
• Dec. 9 and Dec. 11: Basketball
• Dec. 16 and Dec. 18: Basketball

"We want to give students a chance to experience a sport that perhaps they’ve never played before,” Mustonen said.

For more information about the upcoming programs, visit http://dearbornschools.org/.