Cribbage Pegged as Common Hobby for Apple Valley Middle Schoolers, Senior Citizens

Dick Geiger has played cribbage for about 60 years—or "forever," as he puts it.

"I enjoy the game," Geiger said. "I enjoy teaching the game."

That's why, for the past eight or nine years, Geiger has elected to play cribbage, a game that involves grouping playing cards in certain combinations to earn points, with a much younger crowd—students at .

Scott Highlands teacher Ted Siefkes started the senior citizen/middle school cribbage partnership 18 years ago with Jan Stoven, who works in District 196 Community Education. Of all the students who have participated over time, some already knew the game well, while others learned from the seniors for the first time.

"It's fun, it's easy, kids enjoy it," said Siefkes, who began playing cribbage when he was in college.

In addition, cribbage involves some basic math work; it at least "forces them to get to 15," Geiger said, based on the game's rules.

Since 1993, the partnership has involved up to 15 seniors at a time, playing cribbage a couple times a month at the school with a group of 25 or 30 kids.

"There was always interest" in the game and the partnership aspect, Siefkes said.

Sometimes there were prizes and scoring competitions, and Siefkes said on occasion he'd take the students out of school to play the game with their senior counterparts.

Some changed the way teachers could offer activities, but Siefkes said he still wanted to keep cribbage alive.

So cribbage has become part of the "math madness" course Siefkes holds for up to 40 students during flex time, a midday slot when teachers offer more academically focused activities that students rotate through a few weeks at a time.

Instead of having 25 or 30 students sign up to participate in the cribbage activity for the year, every sixth grader at the school will experience cribbage briefly, Siefkes said; the seniors now visit his classroom once a month.

Over time, some seniors who don't play anymore have continued to keep in touch, Siefkes said, and have become his friends. Others have passed away, which upset the kids who had formed relationships with them.

Despite the now mandatory nature of their cribbage encounters, interest in the game continues among the younger generation, like Miguel Rodriguez, who said even without familiarity the game was still easy to learn.

At the groups' last meet-up in December, sixth-grader Jake Simon not only played his own hand, but helped other students at the table get the hang of the rules.

Coincidentally, cribbage is what Simon's family plays when they get together at Island Lake.

"I just play a lot," Simon said.