Students go ‘gaga’ over new game that Eagle Scout built

ROSEVILLE — There’s a new game in town, and the students at Kaiser Elementary in Roseville Community Schools have gone “gaga” over it.

The popular activity of playing gaga was made possible at the school when Roseville High School junior Lucas Sides made a wooden pit specifically for the students to play the game.

Sides, a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop No. 1407 out of St. Margaret of Scotland in St. Clair Shores, built the gaga pit as his project to become an Eagle Scout.

The Eagle Scout project is the final requirement to obtain the highest rank within the Boy Scouts of America organization. There are many steps to earning the rank of Eagle Scout, including making a presentation before the Eagle Board of Review.

Gaga, similar to dodgeball, is fast paced and played inside a wooden pit shaped octagonally. Eight players can play at one time. Using a soft foam ball, the players can dodge, strike, run or jump while trying to hit their opponents with the ball below the knees. If you are hit, you are out for the rest of the game.

It’s a game often played at Boy Scout camps. Over the summer, Sides built the gaga pit at Kaiser. His younger brother, Alex, an eighth grade student at Roseville Middle School, helped out, as did several troop members who assisted with sanding the wood. Lucas held various fundraisers to pay for the wood, brackets and other supplies needed for the project.

“I think the elementary school needed one so they could play,” said Lucas, himself a fan of the game.

He has enjoyed his time in Scouting.

“I have a lot of friends in it,” he said. “It teaches me a lot of things that will help me in life.”

On Sept. 19, Lucas, Alex and their parents, Kristin and Brian Sides, visited the school to see the gaga pit in action. A class of fourth graders was playing the game and thanked Lucas for making the pit.

“I’m really good at this game,” Derrick Miller said. “Thank you for creating it.”

“Thank you,” William Kunze told Lucas. “I love the pit. It’s amazing.”

The Kaiser family also did its part to help with the project. Students raised $100 during “Electronics Day” in which they were allowed to bring their laptops or Nintendo Game Boys to school and use them for an hour for a donation of $1.

Lucas once attended Kaiser.

“He was an amazing student,” Kaiser Elementary School Principal Kelly Grider said. “Always very strong academically and kind to everyone else.”

The Eagle Scout project gives the Scouts lessons in community service, leadership, teamwork and project management. To earn the Eagle Scout rank, Scouts must progress through the ranks from Tenderfoot to Eagle, earn 22 merit badges, serve in a leadership position and participate in a scoutmaster conference.