On Monday, Nov. 19, Upper School students gathered in Roberts Theater for the Upper School Fall Sports Celebration Assembly.
Senior Mia Seymour and senior Coltrane Joseph led the assembly because they are both executives of the Student Athletic Advisory Council, a student organization on campus with representatives from each sports team.
First, a slideshow created by Assistant Athletic Trainer Julie Richardson was shown, which consisted of team pictures and game pictures.
Then students were instructed to look under their seats for randomly-placed sticky notes. Depending on the color of the Post-It note, students would participate in either a wheelbarrow race or “Wyvern Hot Potato.”
The wheelbarrow race occurred first. Four students were picked and put into two teams. Then one student had to hold up the other student’s legs and go up and down the aisle. Senior Madi Henry and freshman Natalia Correa won.
Then eight students who had red Post-Its played Wyvern Hot Potato. Eight students went on stage and got Wyverns and passed them around until every student except for one was out. Senior Jack Cavo won the game.
Then Mia and Coltrane announced the awards, recognizing outstanding athletes in the community.
The All-Stars for girls soccer were senior Charlotte Cyr and junior Jamie Scarpantonio. The All-Star for boys soccer was junior Nick Hamzavi.
Teams that made it into the postseason were also recognized. The volleyball team played Pomfret in the NEPSAC championships and unfortunately lost. Football played Noble and Greenough School and lost in a close game.
Senior Josh Leshem received The Unsung Hero Award for varsity football. Junior Angelina Masselli won The KOKO Spirit Award.
Ali Miezels, manager of the cross country team, and sophomore Chris Morris, manager of the football team, won Managers of the Season. Sophomore Sydney Smith won Performance of the Season for varsity volleyball.
Senior Ananya Alleyne said that her favorite part of the assembly was the slideshow. “It is always cool to see everyone in action, especially since I don’t go to most of the games,” she said. “It brings the community together and brings out our school spirit.”
The tradition of the sports celebration assemblies began in 2015 when Director of Althletics Debbie Fiske first came to KO. During Ms. Fiske’s first year at KO, she heard complaints about how there wasn’t enough recognition given to students in front of their peers, so she decided to create the sports assemblies as a way to do this.
“You come together to be proud, no matter what level sport you are, and cheer each other on,” she said.
Originally, the assemblies would take place for an hour and a half in the evening so parents could attend, but then the assemblies were moved to Fridays during PLB.
Ms. Fiske said that the Athletic Department decided to move the assembly to the daytime because schedules were so tight.
Mia said she thought the assembly was successful. “The SAAC execs wanted to make this assembly a lot more interactive for the audience and give all students, not just the fall athletes, the opportunity to be involved,” she said. “We received positive feedback from a lot of people, so I think that we will continue to make the assemblies interactive in some form.”
