Junior Olympics: The Class of 2017 Has A Day in the Sun

When the sun came out on Thursday, May 19th, Juniors at Scarsdale High School anxiously awaited the announcement ... would today be the day? In order to avoid trouble the night before the event, the administration now keeps the date of Junior Olympics a carefully guarded secret. Though the event is planned in advance, no one know when the fun will begin. Once the call was made and announced on the loudspeaker one could hear cheers from miles away as the Juniors excitedly got ready for Junior Olympics.

Every year the SHS administration hosts Junior Olympics where juniors compete on their elementary school teams in various games. One of the most interesting aspects of Junior Olympics is that the date is a surprise. This builds up suspense among the students and creates a fun and exciting atmosphere when the event is announced.

The Junior Olympic games take place on all the fields and inside too -- and include dodge ball, capture the flag, a jeopardy game about the school, whiffle ball, a pie eating contest and more. Along with these games the school sponsors a lunch for the juniors. Whichever team wins the most games wins Junior Olympics.

Even though it is a surprise the event it is well planned out. Students from each team designate two captains for the team who lead them in cheer and organize who will participate in the various games. Here are the captains that were elected for each team this year.

Quaker Ridge: Shannon Regan and Bradley Tatz
Edgewood: Hayley Meisel and Christian Waterhouse
Greenacres: Julia Klayman and Miles Boxer
Fox Meadow: Lena Proctor and Sol Thompson
Heathcote: Carolina Stainfeld and Adam Schwall

Along with electing captains, online within their teams students sign up for which activities they want to take part in and what nickname they want written on the back of their jerseys which are printed on t-shirts in the elementary school colors. This organization online is especially fun because teams decide who should participate in which activities based on their skill set.

The camaraderie that exists among the teams roots back to elementary school days and creates a fun and loving environment. Junior Sydney Lambert spoke about Junior Olympics saying "I actually thought it was really fun and it was really exciting to be with all my elementary school friends again". Sydney's friend Jenna Marcus commented "it was just like a really fun experience to reconnect with old friends and be on a team with people that I've known for 11 years and just like spend time with people that I don't necessarily have classes with or see on a regular basis. Oh and competing against friends from other schools was fun".

The school administration announces if the event will be held after second period. Right after the announcement took place students sprang into action and immediately met with their teams to get dressed in their gear. After everyone was ready all teams gathered outside of the Brewster Road entrance of school where each team displayed their cheer and then are sent off to the various olympic games! This year, after a brutal contest, the Edgewood Elementary School team took home the prize, winning Junior Olympics.

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