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Restore the Roar
Sep 7, 2005 10:55 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Written by Sarah Tebo, Young Romans Editor, Rome News-Tribune, published 9/6/05
The Tigers are roaring a little louder this year thanks to a new school spirit program at Darlington School. Called Restore the Roar, the project encourages students to come together to form a community and live "The Tiger Way."
"That's everything from the road we drive in on to the way we act in class to how we present ourselves," said Restore the Roar organizer James Milford, a head of house at Darlington.
"A lot of it is leading by example," said senior Emily Hendrickson. "It's important for us to pass on what we've learned here."
Student leaders such as Emily have been working since before school started to help new students feel at home and happy at Darlington. It's an important job, because each year one third of Darlington students are new, said Milford.
Darlington's "houses" are similar to traditional dormitories, but students of all grade levels live together there. So activities such as the recent House Olympics help the new students feel they are a part of the school, said senior Maritza Mendoza.
However, the girls in her house weren't very excited about the competition at first, she said. "Then, it was cool to see the girls come into one and say 'We're going to win!'" Maritza recalled.
Tom Whitworth, Darlington's new headmaster, sees the value in encouraging students to become involved in school activities. "Without involvement, there can't be community," he said. "If you can find a way to involve your classmates, then the school will change dramatically."
"We've seen positive changes in school spirit," confirmed senior Drew Beaver. "If you are happy about your school, you'll be happy while you're here."
One way the school is building involvement is through the new Centennial Cup. Each of Darlington's six houses will compete all year to earn points; the house with the most points at the end of the year will wil the cup. While the Centennial Cup will be a trophy housed at the school, each year's winning house will receive the "Bengal Bucket" - a more informal trophy that can be displayed in the house.
Students can earn points for their house in several ways; these include attending designated sporting ev ents, fine arts performances or the Scholar Bowl, or performing community service at locations such as the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, Rebecca Blaylock Child Development Center, a local soup kitchen or a local nursing home. And every six weeks, when academic averages are announced, each house will set a goal for increasing its average for the next six weeks. If that goal is met, the house receives Centennial Cup points.
But the school spirit program isn't all about competition. "The Centennial Cup is a tangible thing, but Restore the Roar is more of an ideal," said Milford. "It's really the undercurrent to building our community."
The student leaders are an integral part of Restore the Roar, said Whitworth. "They want to make the school a better place," he said. "I really do think they care about each other. It's just phenomenal, and I'm very excited to be a part of it."
There is excitement among the students, as well. "I hear it every day as I go down the halls: 'Restore the Roar!'" Emily said.
"But it's also more than that," Drew added. "At the dorm at night, kids are happy and not homesick. If they're happy, we've done our job."
Milford sees Restore the Roar as a way to bring all of Darlington together. "Depending on who you talk to, this can be seen as a fractured school," he said. "We have day and dorm students, elementary, middle and high school. We want this to reach all the way to pre-K and be a unifying factor."
The Tigers are roaring a little louder this year thanks to a new school spirit program at Darlington School. Called Restore the Roar, the project encourages students to come together to form a community and live "The Tiger Way."
"That's everything from the road we drive in on to the way we act in class to how we present ourselves," said Restore the Roar organizer James Milford, a head of house at Darlington.
"A lot of it is leading by example," said senior Emily Hendrickson. "It's important for us to pass on what we've learned here."
Student leaders such as Emily have been working since before school started to help new students feel at home and happy at Darlington. It's an important job, because each year one third of Darlington students are new, said Milford.
Darlington's "houses" are similar to traditional dormitories, but students of all grade levels live together there. So activities such as the recent House Olympics help the new students feel they are a part of the school, said senior Maritza Mendoza.
However, the girls in her house weren't very excited about the competition at first, she said. "Then, it was cool to see the girls come into one and say 'We're going to win!'" Maritza recalled.
Tom Whitworth, Darlington's new headmaster, sees the value in encouraging students to become involved in school activities. "Without involvement, there can't be community," he said. "If you can find a way to involve your classmates, then the school will change dramatically."
"We've seen positive changes in school spirit," confirmed senior Drew Beaver. "If you are happy about your school, you'll be happy while you're here."
One way the school is building involvement is through the new Centennial Cup. Each of Darlington's six houses will compete all year to earn points; the house with the most points at the end of the year will wil the cup. While the Centennial Cup will be a trophy housed at the school, each year's winning house will receive the "Bengal Bucket" - a more informal trophy that can be displayed in the house.
Students can earn points for their house in several ways; these include attending designated sporting ev ents, fine arts performances or the Scholar Bowl, or performing community service at locations such as the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter, Rebecca Blaylock Child Development Center, a local soup kitchen or a local nursing home. And every six weeks, when academic averages are announced, each house will set a goal for increasing its average for the next six weeks. If that goal is met, the house receives Centennial Cup points.
But the school spirit program isn't all about competition. "The Centennial Cup is a tangible thing, but Restore the Roar is more of an ideal," said Milford. "It's really the undercurrent to building our community."
The student leaders are an integral part of Restore the Roar, said Whitworth. "They want to make the school a better place," he said. "I really do think they care about each other. It's just phenomenal, and I'm very excited to be a part of it."
There is excitement among the students, as well. "I hear it every day as I go down the halls: 'Restore the Roar!'" Emily said.
"But it's also more than that," Drew added. "At the dorm at night, kids are happy and not homesick. If they're happy, we've done our job."
Milford sees Restore the Roar as a way to bring all of Darlington together. "Depending on who you talk to, this can be seen as a fractured school," he said. "We have day and dorm students, elementary, middle and high school. We want this to reach all the way to pre-K and be a unifying factor."
