This was it, guys. After days, weeks, months of preparation, we finally did it. The Field Day.
I will try to write down all the things that may be of use in the future, if you guys or the NHS members in the future want to repeat another Field Day.
Basics: The day was divided into two major parts: whole school (elementary and secondary combined), and then middle school and high school only.
Preparations:
- Francisco, Kun Hee and I assisted a couple (I think four in total) meetings after school, called by Dr Schoolman. Other people who were there were Mr Foege, Jeff, and Nicolas Bruni. They helped in making decisions and evaluate the feasibility of our ideas, and in organizing the activities that were chosen to be focused upon. Finally, the teachers and administrator who came to the meetings were the main adults who helped us during the day, acting as supervisors.
- Lucia Pradel and I talked with Pato to find out about the places we could buy materials for the first portion of the day, the team-spirit building and meeting of teams. I received from Pato "facepaint", who generously offered two boxes (though we ended up using only one) of crayons brought from the US, as well as posters and pens to make banners. Hairspray was not found in the end (mostly due to lack of time and its absence in Uruguay's shops). I talked to maintenance for the rest (and majority) of the materials and setup, including sponges, buckets and the design of rooms and fields for the day.
- Francisco and Nina helped me in designing the t-shirts for Field Day. As they were made last minute, there was a lot of rush in the whole process. I had to make urgent calls. Jin Kyu kindly went to pay the presupuesto (the company AUGE Deportes requires it to begin the printing process) for me, because I could not make it the first time. I was bombarded with emails from AUGE Deportes representatives, asking me questions about details and things to clear up, and all that stuff. But we still got them done in the end! They cost 315 pesos per person, with the discount we got for ordering a lot.
- I wrote earlier posts with details on the way Field Day bloomed over the course of time before. So you can take a look if you want to see how it went and all.
How it all was:
Phase 1
Team Spirit
|
Phase 2
“Subdivision”
|
Phase 3
“Competition”
|
Lunch
|
Phase 4
“real deal”
|
Phase 5
|
8:05 - 9:00
60 min
Team
spirit-building
|
|
9:00 - 11:30
150 min
Five stations 30 minutes each
(with elementary)
|
|
11:30 - 1:30
120min
Basketball and soccer
Separate genders
(HS and MS only)
|
1:30 - 2:00
45min
|
2:00 - 3:00
60min
Relay race
Tug-of-war
(HS and MS)
|
3:00 - 3:30
30min
Water fun
|
Phase 1: Team spirit-buidling
NHS people immediately went to their team's meeting points when they came to school. We had the crayons and materials for the banners ready for immediate use.
-Red: Lucia Pradel, Jane and Jade were in the ex-StuCo cafe, outside the art room.
-Blue: Francisco, Jin Kyu, Kun Hee and I were in the auditorium.
-Green: Mica, Nico and Juanma were in the elementary hall.
-Yellow: Jose, Nina and Lucia Duarte were in the MS hallway.
The others began coming after their homerooms, at around 8h10 or so. NHS people gave instructions; people got to know each other; there was facepainting and bannermaking; and MS and HS people decided which sport they wanted to play during the 11h30 to 1h30 soccer/basketball games.
At around 8h50, all teams went outside, on the outside basketball court, to take a group picture shot by Javi from the roof. Then, the rotations began.
Phase 2: Subdivision games
The big four teams (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow) were further subdivided into five groups per team. This was to facilitate control of the groups, and also because too many people in a game takes away the fun of playing.
Subdivision
Games Schedule
|
Time
|
9h00 – 9h30
|
9h30 – 10h00
|
10h00 – 10h30
|
10h30 – 11h00
|
11h00 – 11h30
|
|
Activity 1:
Dodgeball
|
R1,B1,G1,Y1
|
R5,B2,G5,Y5
|
R4,B3,G2,Y5
|
R3,B4,G5,Y2
|
R2,B5,G3,Y4
|
|
Activity 2:
Scooter game
|
R2,B2,G2,Y2
|
R1,B3,G4,Y4
|
R5,B4,G3,Y1
|
R4,B5,G1,Y3
|
R3,B1,G4,Y5
|
|
Activity 3:
Capture the
flag
|
R3,B3,G3,Y3
|
R2,B4,G1,Y3
|
R1,B5,G4,Y2
|
R5,B1,G2,Y4
|
R4,B2,G5,Y1
|
|
Activity 4:
Mini races
|
R4,B4,G4,Y4
|
R3,B5,G2,Y1
|
R2,B1,G5,Y3
|
R1,B2,G3,Y5
|
R5,B3,G1,Y2
|
|
Activity 5:
Trivia
|
R5,B5,G5,Y5
|
R4,B1,G3,Y2
|
R3,B2,G1,Y4
|
R2,B3,G4,Y1
|
R1,B4,G2,Y3
|
30 minutes per station: 5 for moving around, 5-10 for explaining, 15-20 for playing.
Activity #1: Dodgeball, in the gym, with Jeff and Javi as supervisors.
Activity #2: Scooter game, outside basketball court, with Dr Schoolman and Marta (Portuguese teacher) as supervisors.
Activity #3: Capture the flag, half of big soccer field, with Mr Foege and Mr Davidson as supervisors.
Activity #4: Sponge-in-the-water game and relay races, second half of soccer field, with Diego and Elizabeth Beers as supervisors.
Activity #5: Trivia, cafeteria, with Nicolas and Mrs Madsen as supervisors.
Phase 3: Basketball and soccer
At this point, elementary students left, as they had a half day, leaving MS and HS.
To tell you the truth, the second half of the day was basically a free day. As it was extremely hot, not many people wanted to do anything, and most were lying on the field and talking instead of playing. This did leave some people ticked though.
The rotational system that we got in the end did not really allow people to breathe if they wanted to participate in both soccer and basketball. Actually, the original schedule allowed for only one choice, but with so much complaints, Kun Hee and I printed a changed version during the middle of Field Day, when the elementary students were leaving.
Phase 4: Lunch
As I say later, this was considered "far too late" by many people. We should consider moving it earlier. If not, I think thirty minutes worked out pretty well. Most people went earlier and stayed until later. Everyone was wiped out by this point, and sluggishness was everywhere.
Phase 5: The real thing
We actually did not have the relay race as we had wanted at the beginning. Supposedly, it was too hot and there were high risks of dehydration among other kinds of problems.
We did have the tug-of-war though, a little after 14h00, for around fifteen to twenty minutes. This was led by Jeff and swayed along by the participants' wishes to challenge different groups of people. Then, we were back to relaxation time until the final portion of the day.
Phase 6: Water fun
Well, we had been trying to fill up as many balloons as possible. But many things hindered and happened, and at the end... Mm, at least we got around one bucket and a half, or two, of balloons.
We also improvised with the filling up of water bottles that could be used as improvised water guns.
This went on for around five to ten minutes, at the end of the day. After that, and a short cleaning up, everyone was dismissed.
Well, I guess the last part for NHS people was the water-spraying on us with the hose.
Comments and Things to consider:
- Materials that can be hard to find and purchase in Uruguay should be considered beforehand. That way, it may be possible to order them from the US, and get them shipped on time for the day.
- The sun and the heat. It hit some people a little too hard. There were sunburns, as in the red sunburns. And there were people who felt faint or dizzy. Let's not push it too hard next time, although I think it was fine.
- Move the lunch earlier than too late. By 11h30, people were so hungry and they wanted food. They did not want to wait until 13h30 as the schedule said.
Note: This is a belated post, with the draft finished on February 12th, 2014. So, there may be missing information.