Over the last three years, the upper school student council (STUCO) has been seeking a new and exciting alternative as the culminating event of Headmaster’s Day after the rope pull, a 40-year tradition for juniors and seniors, was discontinued due to safety concerns. The lack of a set final event meant more hoops to jump through and planning in anticipation of the annual field day.
“The beginning of the day is easy,” junior and STUCO Vice President Jack Nave said. “The rocket launch, we do that every year. The final event, that’s the harder part, because you have to get something that is as entertaining as the rope pull in years past and convert it into something new and get it approved by the school, all within about two months.”
In recent years, the final event has included water balloon contests, color wars and, most recently, Assistant Dean Kyle
McGimsey’s capture-the-flag game from last year. This event, however, had many challenges, which led to something new
for this year.
“It was a cool concept, (but) it just didn’t really play out the way we’d hoped,” said STUCO adviser Brian Kells, who is also an adviser for The Trinity Voice. “It was too easy to cheat, so it wasn’t a great game. But that’s trial and error. It was a great game on paper, but it didn’t work out in reality.”
This year, STUCO chose a hula hoop relay race between the upperclassmen as the event to close out the day — an idea that was first considered last year.
“We’re going to give them a hula hoop at the end, and they have to pass the hula hoop through without letting it go,” Kells said. “You’ve got to drop it down, reach down (and) work as a group to get it to the very end, and whoever gets it to the end (first) wins.”
The hula hoop relay aimed to eliminate some issues from previous years by creating an event that is fair, safe and entertaining while still inspiring school spirit. The hope was that this event would do a better job of fostering inclusivity, bridging existing gaps and uniting both the players and audience.
“I think one of the great things with this one (is that) whatever shape or size you are, how coordinated you are, uncoordinated, it’s perfect because you all work together as a big team,” Kells said. “I think it incorporates everybody together in that sense.”
One of the biggest challenges of the final event is student engagement and involvement. To address this, STUCO introduced a middle school component to this year’s event so as to have more opportunities for student participation. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders ran through the relay together before the juniors and seniors, giving the upperclassmen a frame of reference for the event.
“You’re talking 800 kids total in hopefully 10 minutes,” Kells said. “That’s what we’re looking at.”
Middle schoolers lined up with their grades, linked arms and successfully passed the hula hoop from one end of the line to the other. While this was a different approach to the culminating event from years prior, it seems to have been received well.
“I think that the middle school students definitely enjoyed it,” eighth grader Ari Maeshiro said. “All my friends expressed
a lot of content(ment) towards (middle school’s inclusion). … I think everyone just had a lot of fun in (the relay).”
While the middle schoolers were certainly eager to participate themselves, they were also very excited afterward to cheer
on the upperclassmen during their round.
“I have a lot of senior friends, and I just feel like (it’s) an amazing thing to watch all my friends also play these great games
out there,” Maeshiro said. “I think they should have a thing for every group because it’s always so fun.”
Ultimately, the implementation of this event is just part of the process of finding a permanent and widely enjoyed conclusion to Headmaster’s Day. STUCO is committed to figuring out what does and does not work and ultimately weighing what students respond to the best, not only with the final event but across the entire day.
“I really want to cement something that is as strong as the rope pull and doesn’t have to keep changing,” Nave said. “What I want to do with STUCO is have a better grasp of the activities. Maybe choose something unique and give every activity popularity.”
