Traditions Continued (Quiz Bowl), Traditions Restarted (SYTYCD)

 The last week of school was still full to overflowing with special events. I wanted to mention two of them in particular, share their history, and reflect on the newest iteration.

Quiz Bowl (Monday, June 24, 2024)

The Forest of Reading Quiz Bowl tradition continued this year. Here are the stats distilled to the basics.

School Hosted = Macklin P.S.

Participating Schools = Agnes Macphail PS, Iroquois PS, Chief Dan George PS, Port Royal PS, and Macklin PS.

Guest Author = Heather Camlot

Winning Schools = Iroquois JPS for Fiction, Macklin PS for Non-Fiction

What differed? This was the latest in the year that this event has ever been held. It unfortunately meant that some schools were unable to participate, even though they had indicated interest beforehand. It also was the smallest number of schools to take part in a while. This had its pros and cons. There was more space on the stage for the buzzers and we could ask 10 questions per book, where available. Speaking of availability, some of the books that people agreed to make questions for in advance did not have questions done, because their representatives did not come. (Thanks to Kim Davidson who sent her questions to me beforehand, even though her school couldn't attend.) This led me to madly designing questions for four books while I was in Macklin's gym. (For the record, we tried to use ChatGPT for two of the books, but when I checked the results, because I had read all the books, the quality of the computer-generated questions was inferior and I had to make my own.) Big thanks to Nour, our ice cream truck man, who served many eager and voracious students.

So You Think You Can Dance (Tuesday, June 25, 2024)

I've written about SYTYCD on my blog three times in the past - in 2018, 2019 and as far back as 2012. According to a list I assembled to review costuming, we've been running SYTYCD at my school since 2008 or 2009. It's a fun way to recognize the dance talents of our junior/intermediate students. In their dance units, small groups are required to choreograph and perform a dance. Not only are these dances evaluated for their report cards, the best ones are invited to perform for the whole school in the gym. The dances are "judged" by "famous celebrities", that are actually teachers in role. For the first five years of written memory, the judges were an eclectic bunch, with a focus on famous people that judged competitions on TV. After 2013, we began to coordinate the judges based on a common theme, one that would appeal to the younger students. These are the past judges (that I was involved with before):

• 2009 = Shane, Mary and Simon Cowell
• 2010 =  Sharon Osbourne, Randy Jackson and Sue Sylvester
• 2011 = Carrie Ann Inaba, Jennifer Lopez and Sue Sylvester
• 2012 = Elsie Trinkett, Jennifer Lopez and Lea Michelle
• 2013 = Nicki Minaj, Wreck It Ralph, and L'il Wayne
• 2014 = Anna, Elsa and Olaf (from Frozen)
• 2015 = Thor, Captain America and the Hulk (from The Avengers)
• 2016 = (for some reason, my records are missing for this year)
• 2017 = Gamora, Rocket and Groot (from The Guardians of the Galaxy)
• 2018 = Joy, Sadness and Disgust (from Inside Out)
• 2019 = Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie (from Aladdin)
• 2024 = Gru, Agnes, and a Minion (from Despicable Me)

As you may have noticed, there was a period of a few years where we did not hold SYTYCD; the pandemic interfered with the tradition. However, we brought it back this year.

I'm really happy with the Grade 3-4 class that I see for dance. Back in March of this year, I could barely get them to participate in a simple group dance. Now, every person took part in a small group dance and two groups agreed to share their dance in front of the whole school. That's progress!

Here are a few photos of the judges all dressed up!

It was so much fun to have this event again. The oldest students still have memories of SYTYCD from "the before times" and they started to inquire about the identity of the judges prior to June 25. When I slyly asked them why they would ask me this information, they said, "Because you are always involved, Ms. Mali!". 

It's not easy, to pretend to be an animated character. I "studied" the night before and on the weekend by watching Despicable Me 1, 2, and 3 on Netflix. Diana Hong (aka Kevin the Minion) and I bought our costumes specifically for this event. Kerri Commisso (Agnes) and I grabbed quotes from IMDB and watched short clips from the films so we could get our voices "just right". My ears and face were sore and sweaty from the fake nose (covered with bandages so you wouldn't see the white elastic), and Hong's glasses eliminated her peripheral vision and fogged up due to the heat. However, the reaction of the student body made it worth it. We were introduced by the MC before we made our grand entry, and I must say, I'm not a narcissist, but hearing them start to mutter "Gru, Gru" when they learned it was the theme of Despicable Me was delightful, and then hearing the roar of the crowd cheering as Gru was finally introduced was a big thrill. Some of the students even came with their cell phones after it was over to grab some selfies with the SYTYCD judges. 

All of the dances were really well done. The kindergarteners sat through the entire show without barely a peep, and it lasted about an hour. Big thanks to all the teachers and students that helped pull it together, with their dance routines and/or their organization skills. 

This may be the end of the school year, but it's not the end of my busy schedule or my learning. Stay tuned throughout the summer on this blog for more adventures - just not while bald!