Going for the gold: campers showcase their talents at Olympics and Paper Theater

Sara Rastoder
Sara Rastoder

This past Saturday was an especially exciting day for the SCATS campers, and not just because they could sleep in! After campers spent the morning catching up on sleep, grabbing donuts from the breakfast tent, or talking with friends, it was time to prepare for the annual SCATS Olympics. Eight countries were represented this year, with each enthusiastic and determined team created by two counselors joining forces with their campers. Participating countries included the USA, France, Canada, Latvia, Israel, Switzerland, Belize, and, last but certainly not least, the historic Mongol Empire. Campers wore their country’s colors, got their faces painted, and shouted along to team chants on the way to lunch.

 

After lunch, it was time for the Olympic games to commence. The counselors conducted the opening ceremony, carrying their flags with them as the campers cheered for their team. Campers then went their separate ways to get ready for the main events — dodgeball, tug of war, trivia, and storytime — or to help their team gain points by doing side events such as endurance games, arts and crafts, and dominoes. The campers were in good spirits during all the events and displayed good sportsmanship throughout the games. Before the closing ceremony, the countries participated in a relay race that included finding a piece of bubblegum in a tin of whipped cream and blowing a bubble, crab-walking to their next teammate, completing a word search of counselor names, getting spun around five times and running to their next teammate, and then sprinting to the finish line and throwing a water balloon at one of the head counselors. After all the points were tallied, the counselors announced that France had come in third, Switzerland in second, and Israel in first!

 

After some downtime in their halls and eating dinner, campers then got to participate in paper theater. They were numbered off 1-8 and combined into groups. They then randomly drew one fairy tale and one twist to the story — for example, one group had “Rapunzel,” video game style. They were given 30 minutes to cast and stage the show and were given only newspaper, two markers, and some tape to make costumes and props. All of the groups brought a lot of creativity and energy to their skits.

 

This action-packed day proved that, whether it’s athletics, academics, or the arts, SCATS campers always exceed expectations and think outside the box.

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