By Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current

Passers-by at the Northside School playground in Geneseo may be tempted to join students who are playing in their new GaGa Ball Pit.

The recently-constructed pit is the workmanship of Nathan Dunker, who undertook the project of building it to earn his Eagle Scout badge.

Dunker, son of Keith and Tina Dunker, and a senior at Geneseo High School, explained how the new GaGa pit happened at Northside. He said one of his Scout leaders was contacted by a Northside gym teacher who shared the need for a pit. There had been a previous pit on the Northside playground, but it was much smaller and would often break.

A GaGa Ball Pit is an enclosed area where a form of dodge ball is played with a ball similar to that used in kick ball. Players slap or hit the ball, aiming to hit other players at or below the knees. When a player is hit, they are sent out and the last player in the pit is the winner.

By undertaking the pit construction at Northside to earn his Eagle Scout badge, Dunker was “pretty much responsible for everything,” he said.

He did all the fundraising, purchased the necessary materials, did the preparation for the construction, and led construction on the final build day.

The 18-ft. pit is built of wood and metal brackets with a rubber floor.

“I held a build day when many of the younger Scouts and some Scout leaders came to help build the pit,” Dunker said.

He estimated total cost of the pit to be “roughly $4,000, and said the Northside School PTA paid for the rubber flooring which totaled just over $2,000.”

“Per the Scouting rule, I donated approximately $625 back to the PTA which is what I had left over from the fundraising,” Dunker said.

The Scout’s fundraising efforts included sponsoring a raffle for a $100 Geneseo Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificate, a fundraiser night at Northside School where GaGa ball was played, a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction.

Northside School Principal Joe Mowen expressed his pride in Nathan Dunker “for the initiative he took with this project. He did all the fundraising, the order, and the building of the GaGa ball pit. It has been a smashing success with our students. It has a dozen plus students in it every recess. They absolutely love it and are very thankful for such an amazing piece of equipment.”

“It is impressive to have one of our high school students give back to the community this way,” Mowen added.

AND A BIT MORE ABOUT NATHAN DUNKER

Nathan Dunker became involved in Scouts when he was in elementary school…”My cousin was in the Pack (Cub Scout Pack #627), so naturally I wanted to be like my older cousin. When I aged into Boy Scouts I joined Troop #131.

He will graduate from GHS in May of 2024 and his future plans are to attend the University of Dubuque to continue his career in aviation.

Dunker received a unique full- scholarship opportunity for flight training for a private pilot’s license, thanks to EAA Chapter 410 of Geneseo, and the Ray Aviation Scholarship program, administered by the Experimental Aircraft Association, Oshkosh, Wis. He trained at REVV Aviation, based at the Davenport Airport. The scholarship is designed to support a flight student through both written and practical segments of flight training that are part of successful FAA pilot certification.

“I hope to eventually become a full time commercial pilot,” he said.

In addition to his parents, Dunker has a sister, Addie Dunker, who is a student at Dominican University, River Forest, where she is studying elementary education and is on the volleyball team,