Riding around Shaw Park in a golf cart, Sophomore Challenge coordinator David Aiello made his rounds to each of the stations, ensuring they had the necessary supplies everyone was taken care of.
“The day is like an elementary field day, except that the activities are geared for high school students,” Aiello said.
The teamwork-based activities included things like guiding each other through an obstacle while blindfolding or jump roping games.
“It forced students to work in a group of their classmates that they might not usually spend time with, doing a variety of physical, mental and emotional activities that require communication, cooperation, and teamwork,”Aiello said.
Aiello believes this day allows students who often need more chances to lead the opportunity to do so.
The Sophomore Challenge empowered nearly 20 senior volunteers to take on leadership roles and oversee diverse stations.
“Working [the tank and PVC pickup station] put me in a position where I didn’t have anyone to lean on for help. It helped me become more confident, and I can think back to how I grew more comfortable giving instructions to the sophomores over the course of the day,” senior Kian Eghtesady said.
Eghtesadys’ flexibility was often tested when dealing with resistant team members.
“A sophomore asked to do something after their group finished the station. Everyone else in the group wasn’t interested in the activities or doing anything else, but this one person wanted to have the group engaged,” Eghtesady said. “I suggested Marco Polo, and we started playing. After a few minutes, everyone in the group had joined in. That’s what made it memorable: The group went from completely unengaged to actively participating thanks to this one student’s suggestion.”
Eghtesady believes the Sophomore Challenge gets students more involved in the community and creates cross-grade connections.
“You’re kind of forced to be in close proximity with people so you get to know them better,” sophomore Addison Dumlao said. She faced a few challenges at a station called the electric fence, where students devise a strategy to get over a “fence” without touching it. However,her and her group were able to solve it with an important life skill.
“It was hard to figure out, annoying and uncomfortable but we solved it eventually through problem solving,” Dumlao said.
“I can use some of the skills I used in my future, such as problem-solving or socializing with people I don’t know well.” Sophomore Nina Satorius welcomed the much-needed respite the Sophomore Challenge offered, starkly contrasting her usual schedule.
While completing challenges throughout the day, Sartorius focused on teamwork and collaboration. She acknowledged that it was sometimes difficult to work together, but her group resolved issues through communication.
“We had to use teamwork to make a quick decision when we were doing an activity on a balance beam, and we were running out of time, so we just started moving, and it worked,” Satorius said.
Aiello ultimately desired the Sophomore challenge to be a breather and leadership opportunity for students.
“I think that it fits in nicely in a very stressful time of the school year and allows for the sophomores to not think about their schoolwork for a while,” AlIieo said. “I wish we had a more robust outdoor education program and that we used other types of games and team-building challenges in our daily lessons, but I know that most of the teachers, myself included, feel crushed for time with our curriculum.
Aiello acknowledges how difficult it would be to incorporate outdoor education ideas in the curriculum due to the emphasis on AP test scores and college admissions.
“I don’t believe the two are mutually exclusive, but there would have to be some pretty significant re-prioritizing of instructional time and resources to make outdoor education a significant part of how we do things,” Aiello said. “In my long career, I have never felt like it was even a remote possibility to have that conversation, much less to push us to move in that direction. So I have been pleased to have this one day [to] bring some of the goals and methods to our students.”
He believes this day aligns perfectly with the Greyhound Scholar’s spirit of self-awareness, curiosity, inclusivity, care, creativity, and collaboration.
“We know we do a really good job with academics, and our sports and clubs help many students. However, I think the [Sophomore] Challenge helps us focus on the whole person – mind, body, and soul,” Aiello said.
