by John Gillooly

Third graders from the Cunningham School took in some old-school bowling at the Cunningham Hall lanes. This is candlepin bowling – a New England exclusive I believe!

No lights, no music. They had to press the button to reset the pins. They even had to do without the automatic scoring of the new facilities. Old-school scorekeeping with the thick green pencil. And no rails to protect the kids from throwing into the gutter – God-forbid a kid rolls the ball and doesn’t get at least a pin down!

The kids had a great time and they were focused on the bowling and on eachother. They were fully engaged. Makes you wonder why all the distractions and augmentations that we see across our society? Is the bowling experience better for the kids when the pins glow in the dark and music is blaring? The friendship experience? The learning experience?

Photos (c) Old by John Gillooly