SDA students gathered at the Jan. 14 assembly to watch the commencement of the Homeroom Olympics, a series of games and events in which the school’s homerooms can participate. It was created to bring the SDA community together, in place of “Community day.”  The first games played at the assembly were Simon Says and musical chairs. The Homeroom Olympics “are a great way to bring SDA spirit,” said the winner of the Simon-Says challenge junior Carolina Diaz.

The Homeroom Olympics will take place through March 18.  New games will be played in the coming weeks. “Overall there are 11 events ranging from a Balloon Bust, where you try to pop balloons on people’s feet while keeping yours from getting popped, to a drum circle where you just bring a drum and there is no winner but it’s just a nice way to relax and get creative,” said Homeroom Olympics committee member Robert Hylton.

 Though not all homerooms are currently participating, Hylton hopes that “the homerooms already participating will show that the games are fun and will drive the others to participate and have fun as well.” Points are awarded when a homeroom chooses to participate in an event. “Any homeroom which participates gets 200 points just for participating. Then if you get 2nd place you get 300, and the winning team gets 500 points. There are prizes for the winner, but the details are still being worked out,” said Hylton.

On Jan. 21 a “Decorate your Door Contest” took place. Japanese teacher Rie Tsuboi’s homeroom came in first and won 500 more points. Drama teacher Stephanie Siers’s homeroom landed in second and received 300 points. Math teacher Paul Brice’s homeroom placed in third and received 250 points. Chemistry teacher Jennifer McCluan and Spanish teachers Suzanne McCluskey and Sheryl Bode’s homerooms were awarded 50 points each for honorable mentions.

 Hylton said, “The Homeroom Olympics are supposed to bring people closer together in their homerooms, which in turn would bring the whole school closer together.”

The participating homerooms’ current rankings are as follows: