Adults enjoyed height advantages, while kids had numerical superiority Dec. 18 as about 45 Maddox Elementary School students who earned good citizenship honors for the quarter got to spend part of the afternoon playing basketball and volleyball with police officers and firefighters.

Teachers Lacey Fulton and Mary Zachariah accompanied the students. Fulton said to earn the good citizenship program reward, a student has to turn in all homework and be a good citizen in and out of the classroom.

The first quarter, the students who earned the reward played kickball with the police officers and firefighters.

“This reward is a big deal for the kids,” Fulton said. “They work hard to get on the list and we have more kids make it this quarter that we did last quarter.”

The students split into two groups. One group played basketball, the other group played volleyball. Then, halfway through the event, the groups switched sports.

Fulton said the whole purpose of the reward afternoon was for the students to have fun. Judging from the cheering and smiles on the faces of adults and kids, the project hit the bulls-eye.

In addition to police officers and firefighters, McGruff, the Crime Dog was on hand to play ball with the kids. The dog in the trench coat took time to shake hands with kids and Bryce Pascarand gave him a huge smile form his wheelchair when the crime dog greeted the boy and shook his hand.

Fourth-grader Leah Crane said the idea of playing sports against police officers and firefighters helped motivate her to focus on her schoolwork and earning the good citizenship honors.

“This is so much fun,” the girl said during a break in the action. “I get to play sports with my friends and it’s cool the police and fire people are here playing ball with us.”

Sara Hyde had similar comments.

She too liked hanging out with her friends and liked the idea of having police officers and firefighters on the courts with them.

Based on the comments, the adults found the event fun too.

For example, Englewood Police Officer Mike O’Connor said it was great to get out like this and have fun with the kids. He said it is a chance to let kids see police officer and firefighters are their friends.

“I for one, am glad I can do events like this,” he said. “The kids say they look forward to it and we do too. I think it is a great event that is a lot of fun for everyone.”