This week we introduced a new game – kickball! For many of us, kickball was one of our favorite sports during gym class (that and dodgeball). As a young child, many times you don’t recognize the values you are learning while playing a sport. Kickball is all about the fair play element of contribution.

At KPI, we define contribution as things that we do to bring about some kind of positive result for our program/community.

Contributions could be time, resources, praise, and ideas.

We specifically believe that every person has vital contributions that they can make to the community and that social norms and stereotypes are limiting the kinds of contributions that many people, especially girls, can make to the community.

When we make contributions we:

  • Discover what we have to offer the world; what our assets are
  • Affect other in positive ways
  • Help someone or the entire community achieve its desired goals
  • Uncover the value that others bring to the community that we may not have been able to see
  • Make the community better. Contributions are what make the community grow and thrive.

Imagine getting all of that from a game of kickball. When you dissect the game, you immediately recognize that in order for a team to win, like most sports, every person needs to contribute.

Contribution in kickball is not only playing a position in the game – but it’s communicating with your teammates as to which base to throw to, helping the runners decide if they should take another base or not, acting as the cutoff, cheering, etc.

Many times cheering is an undervalued contribution. Every one loves to be recognized, especially by their peers. When our kids cheer for each other, they are not only contributing to their team but also building the self-esteem of each of their teammates.

At KPI, we are constantly looking for ways to contribute in order to make our KPI community, and community-at-large, stronger.