7 Highlights From My First RUMPUS
By Adrienne Forgette - FF/S
As a new faculty member this year, RUMPUS weekend was everything I anticipated and so much more. Read about a few of the highlights from my perspective (in no particular order):
Summerbell House's entrance to Fear Factor. The black Mercedes cargo truck with customized Summerbell House magnets playing the gangster music bringing the boys to Fear Factor was certainly impressive. Almost as impressive as the cute class set of Summerbell T-shirts the Harrison's Heroes (first grade) and Smith Smarties (pre-K) were sporting during the event.
6 houses, 1 school. As all of the houses were waiting to hear the results of "Build It!," a few student leaders near the stage of The Growl decided to lead the crowd in a spontaneous singing of the alma mater. I was happy to capture the moment on video -- if the camera were pointed the other way, you'd see the tears in my eyes.
Neville and Moser boys running Cooper in to the finish line during the "Build It!" race. Cooper House had their tools zip-tied inside of their box and were about 10 minutes behind the building competition. Even though they knew they were in last place, they worked hard to complete their cart to race around the quad and back to The Cove. The gesture from these boys reminded me of my CNN Fit Nation team when we run in the last member to complete the triathlon.
Impromptu joy. While the judges were deciding the winners of the Gender Bender and Lip Sync competitions, emcee Brian Inman casually invited the crowd to come and dance on the gym floor while we waited. There was no hesitation and suddenly the entire gym floor was covered with students of all ages joyfully dancing to "Party in the USA," "Shake it Off" and "Cruel" -- in front of parents, faculty and administrators. Check out the videos in the gallery of this impromptu playfulness that captures the spirit of Dar.
Moser boys congratulating Summerbell at the Closing Ceremony. I wish I had a non-blurry picture of this moment. And I wish I knew who the boys were so I could give them the proper credit. While I know emotions were running high and the taste of defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, these leaders showed true class in their offerings of congratulations to the Summerbell boys.
Drones, cameras and batteries, oh my! Between Adam Daniel's drone footage and Matthew McConnell's videos and pictures, I was in media teacher heaven this weekend. Throw in JC Wang's artsy photo coverage of Lip Sync, Ethan Pender's tweeting of events for TheDarNews, and Moana Kubo's 3D Printer-generated selfie stick, and this gal may finally have gotten over the heartbreak from "The Newsroom" ending.
Jill Babb and the Cooper girls. It takes a special person to motivate, mentor, and manage a house of thirty girls from various backgrounds and countries. Jill does it with ease. Throwing in an extra 30 day students during RUMPUS week didn't even phase her. I can't thank Jill and the girls enough for allowing my daughters to be a part of the "Double Dutch" Lip Sync. They had a blast and felt really special and included. Watching Jill, Tina, Nadin and Moana coordinate all of the Cooper events, including two Lip Syncs with over 25 girls, all the time being firm but fair was a site to witness.
The Forgette family is looking forward to many more RUMPUSes to come!
One of the most highly anticipated events of the school year at Darlington, RUMPUS is a weekend-long competition between day and boarding students and faculty in the six campus houses.
