Fostering school and community spirit

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This article was published 13/12/2017 (3083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Who knew that pitting students against each other in a battle royale would bring them together and help local families in need?

That’s precisely the idea behind River East Collegiate’s annual Grade Wars, which took place Dec. 4 through 8. In its second year, the weeklong event is the brainchild of the school’s phys-ed leadership group, under the direction of phys-ed department head Jeff Spark.

“We started Grade Wars last year as a way to bring the school together more, like an extra version of spirit week,” explained Lena Andres, a Grade 11 student involved in a number of River East’s leadership groups.

“After last year’s Grade Wars, everyone was already super excited,” she added. “We knew this year would be fun.”

According to Andres, one key aspect of Grade Wars is coming up with activities that will appeal to students with a wide variety interests, so that nobody feels left out.

“It was important to get all the different groups involved, like athletes and musicians, people who like science and trivia,” she said. “And everybody was really excited. Every day there was a specific thing.”

To get things started, students in each grade were encouraged to wear a certain colour. Grade 12s wore blue, Grade 11s yellow, Grade 10s wore green and Grade 9s red. Each student who took part then received a point for their grade. Another day was formal day, another Hawaiian themed.

“It was super cool,” Andres said. “Everyone wanted to win. I had a bunch of extra yellow clothes on the first day in case anybody didn’t have some.”

Along with the fun of dressing up each day, students held competitions at lunch and during class time.

“We have a pretty supportive school administration here that helps make it all happen,” Spark said.

Throughout the week, students were also encouraged to donate non-perishable food, receiving a point for each item. When the end of the competition was nearing, on Dec. 7, Grade 11 and Grade 12 students collected cash from their classmates and hit up nearby grocery stores to try to put themselves over the top.

“We realized we needed to get going,” said Scott English, a Grade 12 student. “A few of my friends raised close to $500, and another group that raised between $300 and $400, and another raised some more. We all went and basically cleaned out SuperStore.”

Thousands of items were collected, and organized into hampers for local families in need. The rest was donated to Winnipeg Harvest.

“It was unbelievable,” Andres attested.

On Friday, with the total food donations put on display, students held a talent show.

“We had kids from any grade who wanted to get up and do something,” Spark explained. “We didn’t award any points, it was just a wind-up for the week.”

“There was a lot of singing, which was cool,” Andres said. “Everybody got involved.”

Andres and Sparks estimated that around 95 per cent of students took part in the Grade Wars activities, and that there is already excitement over next year.

“No excuses, next year, we need to do this,” Andres said. “We need to pull through and win this thing!”

“We’re looking at ways of expanding, to see what we can do to make things better,” Spark said. “I’ve been teaching for 15 years now, and (Grade Wars) have been the two best weeks of my teaching career.”

“I think these are the high school memories that will stay with you forever,” English added. “It’s not period four math. It’s going to be the good times you had with your friends, the school, and the staff, seeing the whole school come together to have an awesome time for a week straight.”

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