Good grades = free bowling

Ran on Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Good grades = free bowling
Alley rewards studets for academics

By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff

School sports usually have a minimum grade point average as an incentive for student-althletes to remain academically fit.
AnEau Claire bowling alley Has taken it another step.
Any student, kindergartener through colege undergraduate, can bring in their second semester report card to Wagner's Lanes and get an "allowance" to use toward bowling games. The higher the Grade point average, the more games students can bowl.
For an elementary school-aged child who got straight As, $250 earns them 85 games of 10 pin. A high schooler with a 3.5 to 4.0 can bowl 114 times throughout the summer.
"It gives kids something to do," said Steve Hanson, Wagner’s Lanes owner. "It keeps them out of trouble."
Last year, the "Bowling for Grades" program attracted about 1,000 kids, Lanes employee Mary Steffenson said.
The alley hopes to get kids involved in bowling during the summer months and entice them to join a junior bowling league in the fall. But there’s more to it.
"It’s not all about the money," Hanson said. "It’s about doing community service."
Hanson said he has gotten a great response from the students and parents.
Some parents will even stay with the kids and bowl during the day, Steffenson said. The alcohol and smoke free environment is conducive to the young bowlers’s afternoon activity.
Friends Grant Peikert, 12, Nick Stanke, 12, Palmer Buss, 13 and Tate Halberg, 12, all of Eau Claire, said they recieved good grades and plan to bowl many games. The crew took a break from playing baseball, another one of their favorite summer pastimes, on a recent day.
"It’s fun," Buss said. "I like bowling for free."
Stanke said sometimes the boys' parents drop them off at Wagner's or they might bike over to the facility.
"I try to get good grades so I can play sports," Halberg said.
Peirkert capped the group’s score, bowling a total of 491 in five games.
While students are welcome to bowl six games each day without a fee, shoe rentals are $1.85. They can bowl daily until 6 p.m. After the grades are initially presented, a school ID card or driver’s licence is required for bowling.