College Park Middle’s gym was pretty slammed for most of the morning on October 28th.
All three grade levels celebrated students’ ongoing academic achievement and good behavior by letting students participate in some fun Halloween-themed Renaissance Rallies.
Jostens Renaissance is an acclaimed educational enrichment program designed to empower students and teachers and inspire academic performance. The program is not new, but it is new to College Park Middle this year; Stratford High has a reputable Renaissance program, and the middle school has worked with its feeder high school to get the program kicked off at College Park Middle.
College Park Middle has a new student leadership club that is heading up Renaissance efforts. These students had a role in running some fun activity stations (see below) for their classmates to participate in during Friday’s rallies.
College Park Middle staff members plan to turn these rallies into a quarterly event at the school in hopes of inspiring students to do well at school because there is some criteria students have to meet in order to attend a rally: students need to have a 70 or above in all core and related arts classes. They must also have no ISS or OSS, and no unexcused absences.
Camille Toliver, one of the P.E. and health teachers at College Park Middle, said the overall hope is to encourage students to be at school, to do well at school and to try hard in all their classes – not just their core classes.
Toliver is also the advisor for the Leadership Club, and wants to help instill a sense of professionalism in the club’s participants.
“I want them to feel comfortable leading a group of their peers...I feel like it’s important for a professional in almost any career, to be able to lead and share your expertise with others to help make them better,” she said. “I also want them to learn from each other…because we all have room and space to grow.”
The school’s Art Vibes Club created the décor for the gym. Student Leadership was joined by WISE Girls Club members in manning the game tables, along with teachers.
Friday was Pink Out day at the school as part of showing support for breast cancer awareness, so a lot of students and teachers wore pink to school.
Station 1 was a “soccer ball transfer” area where students had to get soccer balls into an empty baby pool on the other end of their “lane” without using their hands to grab the ball; they basically had to get the balls in between their knees and either hop or waddle to the deposit the ball.
Station 2 was the well-known cutthroat sport of musical chairs.
Station 3 was named “Eyeball Pong.” Students played in pairs to toss “eyeballs” into cups on opposite sides of a table. Pairs tried to land the balls into their opponents’ cups to win the game.
Station 4 was “Pass the Noodle”; students joined a circle, armed with pool noodles. On command, students had to let go of their pool noodle and dodge for a new one. If they did not get a noodle, they were out of the game.
Station 5 was called “Fear Factor”; students went digging for coins inside of plastic jack-o-lanterns. If they found a coin, they could redeem it for a treat.
Station 6 was “Fishin’ for Donuts”; station operators tied donuts to sticks as if they were fishing lures. Operators would dangle the donut above the students’ heads as they tried to jump up and grab a bite.
There was also an area where students could just dance if they wanted to. All three rallies ended with students and staff dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," led by dance teacher Caitlyn Anderson.
Meanwhile, students also did some fun STEAM-related activities with pumpkins back in their homerooms. Students got to decorate and/or carve pumpkins to be entered into a grade-level contest. Students got to vote on pumpkins during their special area. Homeroom winners received prizes. This event was sponsored by the school’s Kindness Club, and the club monitored the voting.