The Spirit Day Games: Interviews with Freshmen and Juniors

By Micaela Leroux Burch '18
AKA “Sailor Jupiter” AKA Dodgeball Gold Team Captain
On an unseasonably warm summer day in September, the NCS upper school community took a break from academic activities and celebrated Spirit Day.  The morning was filled with games including Shaving Cream Twister, Water Balloon Toss, Dodgeball, Musical Chairs, and Relay Races.  In the afternoon, the students performed skits, Sasparilla performed its first concert of the school year, and the e18ctric senior class revealed its class theme, “E18ctric.”
At lunch, I interviewed eight upper school students about the Games.  Mckenna, Abby and Emnette, students from the class of 2019, excitedly talked about the morning’s games.  One of them—it was hard to tell which one because they all talked at the same time—acknowledged that Dodgeball was her favorite game because she is competitive and enjoyed throwing the ball back and forth.  The second student liked Dodgeball and Musical Chairs.  The third could not decide which game was her favorite among them all.
The three juniors were forthcoming when I asked if they had any suggestions for improving the games.  One opined that Twister would be more fun without the shaving cream.  She likes Twister, but it was too difficult to play the actual game with shaving cream.  Another suggested having two Twister games available, one with shaving cream and one without.  They agreed that it was too hot outside and that they would have preferred to play the games inside.
I also interviewed a group of five freshmen.  They liked the Water Balloon Toss; it was a challenging game and provided some relief from the heat.  They also agreed that Musical Chairs was one of the best games.  They looked forward to the skits and musical performances scheduled for the afternoon.  They described Spirit Day as a day that you dress up and play, all in the name of building a sense of community at NCS.  It is the best day of the year.
I was happy to learn from the freshmen that the seniors succeeded in helping them feel a sense of community.  When asked whether they would have preferred to take the day off and stay at home, the students unanimously agreed that they preferred coming to NCS and participating in Spirit Day.
So there you have it: Water Balloon Toss, Musical Chairs, and Dodgeball are hits; Shaving Cream Twister may not work so well on hot days.  This interviewer notes that Water Balloon Toss was not offered during Spirit Day for the past couple of years.  Perhaps it should remain on the list of games offered annually on Spirit Day, especially when the weather is hot.  Also, no interviewee mentioned Relay Races among their favorite games, but my sample size was small.  Comments about The Games—including whether you loved Relay Races, and why—may be sent to [email protected].  By the way, my favorite game was Dodge Ball.
Finally, the Gold Team won the games according to the consensus among those I interviewed.  Of course, I am not biased.