Lagos State Scrabble and Monopoly Association begins secondary school scrabble sensitization

The Lagos State Scrabble and Monopoly Association (LASSMA), have begun the pilot project of it’s ‘TAKE SCRABBLE TO SCHOOLS’ with the introduction of the sport of words to Atunrase Senior High School, Owodele Street, Surulere, Lagos.

The Chairman of Lagos State Scrabble and Monopoly Association (LASSMA), Engineer Dipo Akanbi alongside the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Atunrase Senior High School Adewale Adelowo, the Principal of the School Alhaji Fatai Yussuf and top scrabble players like Hakeem Olaribigbe were all on ground as the first scrabble tile was placed on the board during the introduction.

According to the School Principal Alhaji Fatai Yussuf, Atunrase Senior High School with over 330 students will benefit immensely from the sport of scrabble

“Scrabble and Monopoly increases the brain capacity of the children and is one of the cardinal areas that really improves the performance of the learners, that is the main reason behind my decision to bring this game to the school.”

Yussuf went on to add that, “The enthusiasm is skyrocketing, they are really interested in it and I hope that this will take them to places.”

“We intend to involve their parents, you know we spend very little time with the kids in school, so not very much will be done if the support of the parents is not there. Series of Parent Teachers forum meetings have been held, and that I feel will carry the parents along, so that they will give them their full support.”

A very elated student Suliamon Victor, said that the introduction of scrabble to the school will enhance their learning.

“I was very happy and amused because it’s been a long time since I’ve played the game and for the old boys to bring it back to us is very good. The introduction of scrabble to the school is good, I came to find out that scrabble is a word formation game, it helps us in improving our vocabulary, calculating skills and also our mind,”

“I believe that what others can achieve, I can do better. And seeing that a Nigerian student become African Champion twice, motivates me do better in the game and I advice my fellow students to participate in scrabble because it will change their mindset towards some certain things.”

Similarly, Shalom Elochukwu a female student who was part of the introduction ceremony promised to give her very best to the mind game and help sustain Nigerian Scrabble amazons dominant on the continent.

“It was interesting and fun creating words from another word, I was happy that at least I played the game. It is exciting and not stressful.

“You just have to relax your brain and select your words. It’s more fun than some games, it helps me to calculate and also learn about new words which will help me in school.

“The game also helps me in my mental abilities because it can bring new opportunities for me, but it will require my hard work and consistency to excel”, he explained

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Adewale Adelowo, explained that the introduction of scrabble in schools will help in the grassroots development of the game.
“We graduated from this school and our plan is to make students of our alma mater understand the basics of the game especially now that scrabble is been played in many secondary schools even as he expressed optimism that scrabble will flourish in the school.
” There’s no doubt that the sports will flourish in the school. All that matters is the interest and commitment which we hope to build among the students. And am confident that once the commitment is developed, the expertise will grow and all will be history.

The Chairman of Lagos State Scrabble and Monopoly Association (LASSMA), Engineer Dipo Akanbi said they will be taking the ‘TAKE SCRABBLE TO SCHOOLS’ project to Secondary Schools in all the five Educational Divisions in the State just as he appealed to well meaning individuals, groups and corporate bodies to key in to the project.

“I’m very grateful to the Almighty God for this landmark achievement and initiative, I must say it has been coming for over fifteen years. One of the major reasons why we are yet to bring scrabble to other schools in the country is because of financial constraint but over the time I’ve come to realize that we can start on a low scale and from there get more people involved in the game.

Akanbi commended Lagos State Government for it’s support with an appeal for more support from government and corporate organisations in order to further develop the sports

He also urged other scrabble stakeholders to drive the project ‘TAKE SCRABBLE TO SCHOOLS’ in their various localities.