Northdale Middle School Olympics build connections between students, staff
(03/10/19) Every four years during the summer or winter Olympics, Americans find themselves cheering for their country to win gold medals in competitions like the bobsled or fencing or ski jumping. The friendly competition connects us and brings us together.
So, really, Northdale Middle School’s (NMS) annual building Olympics are pretty much the same. Without the ski jump, of course.
“It’s a great way to bring the school together,” Principal Jeff Leach said. “These Olympics are fun and, staff and students love it.”
So what are the NMS Olympics? Throughout the month of February, competitions are held in the morning pitting teams of students and staff representing their grade against the other grades. The competitions are minute-to-win-it events, like sorting Skittles by color. Medals are awarded and points are given based on each medal. (See photos from event over the course of the month.)
“Students watch the events each morning and are excited when their grade level wins,” Leach said.
At the end of the Olympics, a closing ceremony-type pep fest was held, Leach said. “The pep fest is a great way to celebrate the event and come together as a school to have fun, and recognize those that participated,” he said. “This year we had close to 60 staff members and 160 students get involved.”
And the final results: seventh-graders won the school Olympics with 33 points. Eighth grade came in second with 29 points, and sixth grade finished third with 27 points. Over the past six years, each grade has won the competition at least once, but this is the second straight victory for seventh grade.