In the middle of winter, students and staff can certainly use a change of pace to bolster their spirits. At BFA Fairfax, the student council organized the Winter Carnival to provide activity and build school spirit. This is the third year that the students have organized the event and the results keep getting better every year.
“Our Student Council mission is service to the school. Nowhere is this more important than in creating community. Winter Carnival was an exercise in creating community through healthy play.” – Fred Griffin, Student Council Advisor
There was one change to the format this year that seemed to have a positive impact on participation. Typically, Winter Carnival activities have been held at the end of each day using a modified schedule with reduced class times each day. With our new flexible schedule, all classes do not meet for the same amount of time so condensing classes would have been confusing for all. We decided to take an hour each day at a different time of day to hold activities. That meant on Tuesday, Winter Carnival was first thing in the morning, Wednesday it was right before lunch, Thursday right after lunch and Friday it was at the end of the day.
Tuesday started off with a friendly, but competitive dodgeball tournament. Fifteen students from each grade took to the court in a round robin tournament to earn points toward the ultimate championship (and bragging rights) at the end of the week. Students played, cheered or participated in a quiet activity (board games, karaoke, cookie baking) elsewhere in the building.
On Wednesday, students competed in rousing rounds of Limbo and Musical Chairs. If you’ve never seen high school students play musical chairs, one thing is clear: this is not the elementary birthday party version of the game! It starts with 40 students and slowly works its way down to a final champion.
“We had more participation and excitement from the spectators in the stands than any other year. For example, the day we played limbo and musical chairs greatly exceeded expectations in terms of involvement. The crowd was very involved and a huge amount of people played limbo.” – Casey L, Student Council President
Thursday students competed in basketball and Friday concluded with the Tug of War. At the end of the week, the Class of 2021, our 9th graders, were well ahead of the rest of the school in the points standings. However, it wasn’t over yet.
The culminating event was the Winter Ball. Every student earned a point for their class by attending the Winter Ball. On Saturday evening, over 150 students dressed in their winter finery showed up to celebrate the week and strut their best dance moves.
In the end, for the first time in memory, the 9th grade remained on top and claimed the title of “Winter Carnival Champions.” They ended the streak of this year’s seniors who have been the victors for the last two years.
“My favorite part of winter carnival is seeing students work together, step outside their comfort zones and laugh” – Katherine McElroy, Student Council Advisor
Thank you to all members of the Student Council and their advisors for organizing the events and to all BFA Fairfax students for showing their school spirit as we await the arrival of spring.
“I am personally most impressed with this because we never mentioned anything at all about a reward for the winner of winter carnival, and I was never asked.” – Casey L, Student Council President
The FWSU Story 