Field Day

Friday, April 8th was the biggest day of the year for Brandon . . . field day. He was responsible for planning events, organizing teams, and recruiting enough volunteers to run an all-day event for the students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. He spent weeks typing up schedules, creating sign-up sheets, tracking down personnel, gathering supplies for events . . . needless to say, he was exhausted by the time Friday actually rolled around. BUT, with all the planning behind him and most tasks for the day delegated to others, he was able to enjoy time with the students as they competed in 11 different events. Plus, his amazing wife made him a "Field Day Survival Kit" full of drinks and snacks to keep him hydrated and fueled for the day.

Now, every year I taught fifth grade, we did a field day for all the 4th and 5th grade students where we set up 8-10 games, divided students into teams, and had them parade from station to station to participate in the activity. That was my frame of reference going into this field day, but my expectations were met with a much more complicated fiasco.

Each station wasn't simply a game or activity for the students to participate in. Rather, the students went head-to-head against each other in competitions ranging from a 50 meter dash to furthest ball kick, most baskets made in a minute to sack races. And the top three finishers from each grade level received a ribbon for their performance.

But it wasn't just about individual performance either. The students traveled around with their grade level, but were grouped into three teams (red, white and blue). That task - dividing all the students into three fairly balanced teams - was another duty for which Brandon was responsible. So, as students completed events, they earned themselves ribbons, and their teams points. A huge chalkboard (and yes I mean "chalk" board) was wheeled out to the field to update the student body of the standings throughout the day.

An "equal opportunity" day this was not. That is, every student did not participate in every event. Too simple! No, every student filled out a ranking sheet for Brandon, ranking 1 - 7 the top events that they wanted to compete it. And it was Brandon's job to place a balanced number of students in each event, "balanced" meaning an equal number of (equally talented) students per grade AND equal per team. It wasn't perfect, but considering that before tallying the final few events two teams were tied and the third team actually won, it was close.

Field day started with a school wide relay race where one student per team per grade level was chosen to run in a huge race around the field. Starting with pre-kindergarten, three students - one from the blue team, one from white and one from red - ran their tails off around the track painted onto the field just for this day. Pre-kinder kids passed the batons to kinder who passed off to first . . . on and on until the senior students crossed the finish line. Bailey was still finishing her breakfast during the race, but a constant stream of cheers filled our apartment as she enjoyed her cereal. After a few words of encouragement from Brandon, the kids were off to their events! Here are some pictures from the day, highlighting most of the activities.

Brandon giving instructions to the students at the start of the day.

6th grade shooting hoops, most in 60 seconds wins; go Rebeca!

Longest ball kick (not that exciting to photograph).

Mr. Christian stretching with students before the longest golf drive event.

"FOUR!"

And they're off! . . . running the 200 meter dash.

Ya Yah's longest frisbee toss efforts (complete with body check by Alvaro!).

Camila jumping rope for a minute.

Ye Ji tossing a football through a tire. Unconventional form, but it worked!

8th grade boys competing in the sack race.

Three high school boys (red shirt & the two in blue) challenging two teachers

(both in white) in the 100 meter dash.

The post wouldn't be complete without pictures of Bailey from the day! We spent our time with the sixth grade class (when Bailey wasn't napping) and watched in amazement as "problem" students morphed into patient caretakers. Surprisingly, it was the boys, too, that were most taken by her: playing with her, stroking her arm, and making sure she was hydrated! Who'd a thunk?

And we have to thank Miss Lily for the outfit! It was perfect for the day. We supported all three teams without choosing sides (though the red team says that the top of the shirt being red put her on their team).