Tennis with the Teachers: A Tradition Full of Love
BY: LOGAN FULLER ’28
On Thursday, October 23, it was all love on the tennis courts as teachers paired up with girls’ tennis players for the annual Tennis with the Teachers competition event. This competition was not just a friendly community-building event, but also a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness, as funds went to the Maurer foundation, a breast health education foundation committed to helping people have information to be aware of their health so they can proactively prevent breast cancer.
Tennis with the Teachers is an event where JV and varsity tennis players pair up with teachers to play against each other in a knock-out competition. This event started three years ago when Ms. Corben, the JV girls tennis coach, planned the first event at Jericho. Ms. Corben was inspired to hold this event after her own experience participating in a similar event in high school.
The Tennis with Teachers event usually involves not only the competitive tournament, but also a raffle of different themed baskets made by the varsity and JV players. This year, the tournament winners were Vanshika Thakur ’26 and teacher Mr. Engleke. A new addition to this year’s event were mini pink 3D printed tennis racket keychains made by Megan Chen ’26 and gifted to the teachers as souvenirs of an unforgettable afternoon.
Tennis with the Teachers is a tradition that the team values as an opportunity to build community while also giving back. Captain Thakur ’26 said, “By holding this fundraiser, we’re able to not only raise awareness for the Maurer Foundation, but also raise awareness in a fun way that both teachers and students are able to play tennis and spend a day after school just having fun with competitive nature.”
Ms. Corben shares Thakur’s love for the event for similar reasons, while also adding that she appreciates the ability of the event to build bonds between teachers and students outside of the classroom: “I love seeing the teachers come out. And I like to see the students connect with teachers outside of the classroom. This way they can see that teachers have personality and that teachers also get to know their students a little bit better too.”
Megan Chen ’26 added that she appreciates the inclusivity of the event. Chen said, “My favorite part was that it was a very like inclusive community in terms of like playing tennis because like some of the teachers didn’t know how to play tennis and it was just like really fun.”
Tennis with the Teachers is an important part of the Jericho community, highlighting the best parts of what makes Jericho exceptional: teachers and tennis players uniting for a good cause.