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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Boardman Glenwood Junior High students used paper torches to light the Olympic flame to begin their Greek Olympic Games on Oct. 20.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The winners of Glenwood Junior High's Greek Olympics proudly held their trophies. The trophies were donated by Jamie's Dance Force. Pictured are, from left, (front) Caleb Satterfield, Jada Judy, Amanda Yocum, Kenzie Wigley, Sarah Congemi, Zayda Creque, Julianna Stachowicz, Sydney Yauger, Gia Triveri, Julia Basista, Lauren Bero, Maddie Haybarger; (back) Te'Quan Bailey, Austin Ward, Sebastian Timko, Alex Micco, Declan Shannon, Fernando Ortiz, Carlos Gonzales and Logan Thompson.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Seventh-grade students competed in 21 events for their Olympic games event. Some events were made to resemble the ancient games, such as a javelin throwing contest, which had a javelin constructed of a pool noodle.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The seventh-grade social studies teachers organized the Greek Olympics with help from other seventh-grade teachers. Pictured are, from left, (front) Jill Bresnahan, Cassie Pantellis, Abby Chamness; (back) Eric Diefenderfer, Brandon Schubert, Nick Colla, Carlo Cordon, Shannon Carchedi, Sherri Mangapora, Tom Basista, Ian Head and Kristen Ebie.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Students gave olive seeds to their "science god" from Mount Olympus, portrayed by eighth-grade science teacher Scott Lenhart. Pictured are, from left, Abbey Tatar, Lenhart, Sarah Merzic, Mahum Imran and Kennedy Pickard.
by ZACK SHIVELY
Boardman Glenwood Junior High threw a Greek Olympic Games enrichment activity on Oct. 20 to connect the students’ learning to a fun event.
The school has more than 320 seventh-grade students and every one of them participated in one of the 21 possible events. The seventh-grade social studies teachers organized and ran the event with help from other seventh-grade teachers.
The students learned about the mythology, philosophy, art and government of Ancient Greece in their studies prior to the events.
Some teachers dressed in togas for the event, complete with a laurel wreath. The classes have different teaching teams, and the teachers named their teams after Greek city-states for the event. The four teams were Syracuse, Sparta, Athens and Thebes.
Students carried craft paper torches to the center of the school’s gymnasium to “light“ the Olympic flame to start the games. The teachers organized the event to have multiple games run at the same time.
They offered events such as sprints and hula-hooping contests. Other events were made to resemble the ancient games, such as chariot races, which had students on square scooter boards racing in a circle, and a javelin throwing contest, which had a javelin constructed of a pool noodle. They also had a math game that students could compete in.
After the events, the winners got trophies donated to the school by Jamie’s Dance Force. The teachers tallied how many winners from each city-state won, and the winning city-state celebrated.
Four students gave an olive seed to eighth-grade science teacher Scott Lenhart, their “god of science” for the event. Lenhart planted the seed in the school’s courtyard garden.
The school began doing the event in 2010, but could not do it last year because the school could not accommodate in the rise in the number of students with the program they had previously used. The teachers added more events for this year’s games.