The Bowling class takes it to the next level
By: Brittney Farrow
Staff Writer
Every Friday morning, Crestwood Bowl on Watson Road opens its doors — and all 24 of its lanes — to students of St. Louis Community College — Meramec professor Charly Kelly’s Bowling I and Bowling II classes. The class, which integrates students from both the beginning Bowling I level and the more advanced Bowling II level, is one of the many courses Meramec students can enroll in to fulfill a currently mandatory Physical Education requirement.
Sean Harris and Christopher Saunders, students in Bowling I, both said the class attracted them because they liked to bowl and because it satisfied a general education requirement in their respective academic programs. Kelly’s class teaches students about technique, form, and how to approach the pins in certain situations, Saunders said.
“What I really like about [Kelly’s] style is that he lets you bowl, and then approaches you on how you can improve instead of trying to tell you how to bowl…he watches you do it naturally,” Saunders said.
Kelly, who has been teaching bowling at STLCC-Meramec for three years, previously taught the class at Missouri Baptist University.
The main difference between the students from each campus was that the students at MoBap took it too seriously, Kelly said.
The grading rubric allows 40 percent of a student’s grade to come from the numbers of games they have completed. Bowling I students must complete 40 games a semester, and Bowling II students must complete 50. Fourty percent of the grade comes from attendance, and the final 20 percent to comes from the class final, which consists of questions and answers the class goes over together throughout the semester. A typical question might have a student identify the kingpin, or state the circumference of a bowling ball.
“We always do like five questions, and then next week we’ll review them. I really drill it into them. There is no luck in bowling. All bowling is is physics. Bowling is physics and math. Changing the angle is the math. Gravity is going to determine most of the game anyways,” Kelly said.
Harris said the bowling alley is like a second home to him, but he also enjoys the class setting.
Bowling II student Josh Schindlen also said he enjoys the class. His decision to join Bowling I was mostly for social reasons, but he and his friends enrolled again for the next level.
“It’s not just a certain type [of student] that ts this class. Bowling is something that I feel is for everyone. It’s not just those who can’t play football. No, it’s something that everyone can do. So it’s a class literally for everyone,” Saunders said.
Kelly said that students should not worry about their skill level
when considering the class. “There’s no need to make this more than what it is -it’s bowling,” Kelly said, “I have a good time with the kids…the interaction is the fun part, and when they do something really good and they’re
really proud of it, I helped.”
