A sixth-grade essay of Wrigley proportions

The seventh-grade class at Geneva Middle School North is skipping school today to go to the Cubs game.

And not only is the principal OK with it, but he's going along, convinced by a student that attending a baseball game can be legitimately educational.

The kids can thank Jordan Hunter.

Last spring, when he was in sixth grade, Jordan had to write a persuasive essay for his language-arts class. The Cubs fan wrote about what you could learn at a baseball game.

"I just thought this would be really cool to take a field trip to Wrigley Field," said Jordan, 13, who lives in the Mill Creek subdivision.

His teacher was impressed and suggested he make his case to Principal Larry Bidlack. Jordan did, with help from a few friends.

"He did a very nice job. He took it very seriously," said Bidlack. "I was pretty skeptical (that it could be done). And I'm a Cubs fan."

Though skeptical, Bidlack was also impressed.

"Sometimes it takes some courage to come and see the principal for something like this," he said.

So Bidlack pitched the idea to the seventh-grade teaching team: Could they come up with a curriculum that would tie in to baseball?

They did. In science class, the students are learning about the nerves and muscles used to play the game, including the use of leg and abdominal muscles for pitching.

For social science, they've studied the history of Wrigley Field, Major League Baseball's second-oldest ballpark. At the game, they will have to keep statistics for three innings and calculate batting averages. They will have to write a descriptive essay about their experience at the game.

The trip was on a backburner until early this year, as the school tried to figure out how to afford it. Then a letter from the Cubs arrived, announcing discounts for school groups on certain days. The kids are paying just $5 a ticket to see the Cubs vs. the Astros today.

Bidlack made it clear that he's no soft touch. If another student proposes something, "I'll ask a lot of questions and make sure all the bases are covered."

The trip was announced last month.

"I thought it was pretty amazing my idea got this far," Jordan said.

And even if his 250 classmates are White Sox fans, "baseball is still baseball," he said.

Jordan will get to go on the field and maybe into the dugout.

"It will be a good day for him and for us," Bidlack said.