senior survivor

I am backtracking a little today. The Senior Survivor Games actually took place on Sunday, August 3rd, which was BEFORE school started. Which means they took place BEFORE my blog started.  But Senior Survivor was the 1st official activity of the senior year so therefore, we backtrack.

On a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon, this group of students and friends gathered for the very first time as a senior class... and competed against each other to see which group would take the "Survivor 2014" title.  They competed in:  the tug of war, basket carry, slip n slide, cricket spit (yes, you read that right), gross food eating, dodge ball and egg toss.  Normally, Colton would have been ALL OVER these games...  Competitions. School spirit pride. Friends.  These games had "Colton" written all over them.

Dodge Ball

But Colton had mono.  He was on the tail end of it - but nonetheless, it still lingered. So much so, that he didn't want to go to the games because he was tired - I made him go because I knew he would regret not being there.  During the games, he smiled, visited and hugged friends he hadn't seen all summer. But he was unusually quiet and somewhat unattached.  He wasn't able to participate in all of the games due to the risk of rupturing his enlarged spleen.

Egg Toss with Jordan

The two "cripples" anchor their team.

BUT - did I mention he smiled, he laughed, he visited.  He ate canned beets (gross!). He did the cricket spit (double gross!).  I can't say he contributed much in dodge ball or the tug-of-war (too weak and too preoccupied with protecting his spleen) - but at least he did it.  And then came his finest moment - the last event of the day - the egg toss. The two team "cripples" paired up for this event... Jordan had a broken foot and contributed about as much to his team's efforts as Colton did. But cripples have no problem keeping up with an egg. Slowly, teammates and opponents alike sat down as their eggs cracked or busted.  Slowly, the numbers dwindled. And finally, there were just 10 standing - all of whom had been in Physics during their junior year. All of whom learned how to throw and catch eggs during that physics course.  (Yes, they DID learn something!) And so the distance kept growing, and the eggs kept flying, and the numbers kept getting smaller. Colton and Jordan made it to the final four - and ended that game in second place, leading their team to a shocking OVERALL 2nd place finish.

We didn't have activities like this when I was in high school - but then again, I graduated in a class of 750.  I suppose games like these would have been pretty difficult to pull off with those kind of numbers.  My high school experience was great, but I am so thankful that Colton's is so different.  I love that he goes to a small school that does "Senior Survivor" - and the kids get excited to spit crickets and toss eggs.  I love that the teachers come to watch. And the parents. And the kids don't mind. Most of all, I love watching them talk, and hug and laugh.


Enjoy this senior year, my son - this is only the beginning!