The class cup is coming to middle school. In 2006, Student Body President Chuck Nadd had the idea to introduce a class cup to the upper school, inspired by the House Cup in J.K. Rowling’s famous novel series “Harry Potter.” Thomas Lightsey, the 2019 school year student body president, decided to bring back the class cup because of the potential fun and friendly student competition it could foster.
Beginning this year, MS Student Council President Nikhil Daniel plans to expand the competition to the middle school.
The currently existing class cup is held only for upper school and works through a system of competitions. Current ways to earn points include a monthly bingo, float building and pep rally competitions. The grade with the highest point by the end of the school year is awarded a unique trophy.
To add some variety, Daniel proposes that some competitions be weekly Kahoots, a basketball tournament, and a dodgeball tournament, as well as an art gallery for people more interested in the arts. Student Council is also considering a talent show, and all of these events are worth points.
The competitions and events planned for the class cup are being organized by the Student Outreach Committee, “a committee dedicated to creating and executing events regarding student engagement and student happiness on campus.” Daniel, who is also the president of this committee, hopes it will bring more diversity to the class cup experience.
Despite the trophy, Upper School Student Body President Aetant Prakash thinks that the main issue with the class cup is lack of engagement.
“There’s been no excitement around [the US class cup] for the last two years,” Prakash said. “We are bringing it back this year. It’s taking a little while because we want it to be good.”
Prakash intends to use methods proposed by the Class Cup Committee within the upper school Student Council, which include having rewards for winning the class cup and a physical rankings board in the lobby where students can see the current positions for the competing grade levels.
Prakash is sharing these ideas with Daniel.
“[The MS Student Council is] considering hosting a class cup to foster student competition between grade levels,” Daniel said.
Additionally, Daniel is introducing a new method to earning class cup points, based around incentivizing good student behavior.
“A part of our plan is that we’re going to use the class cup similar to a system where, say a student is respectful or helps in class in a certain way, they receive points,” Daniel said.
Getting the highest score and winning the class cup will earn the whole grade a reward. Possible rewards for winning include a pizza party for the entire grade.
The Student Council is currently applying revisions to the existing class cup, and Daniel stated that it would take approximately two to four weeks for the class cup to be introduced to middle school.
“By teachers adding points based on behavior and grades, we can encourage [the student body] to be better,” Daniel said.
