Sixth grade boys and faculty gathered outside Friday to participate in a special bonding activity that started in the afternoon and stretched into the evening. Boys began the event with activities like the obstacle course, basket hunter (a modified basketball hoops game), building marshmallow towers and other outdoor activities. The idea is to help our boys bond through fun games and tasks in settings outside their usual routines. “This is the first time this year that these guys are gathered as one group, one class,” said Chris Carrier, sixth grade level chair and Spanish teacher. 

Starting the year as a sixth grader is an important moment for our Middle School students. Some boys are brand new to St. Christophers and still learning the ropes, and all? are learning how to navigate the responsibilities and challenges of this new chapter?. This bonding event, a 16-year tradition, is a way to welcome new Saints and build relationships across the grade. “We have a lot of new kids this year, and a lot of kids are in homerooms where they don’t see a lot of the other guys. This is a way for us all to hang out together,” said Carrier.

Following the outside activities, boys boarded buses to go to different sites for different community service events, including gardening at First Baptist Church. When the boys came back to campus, they greeted the returning varsity football team with wild enthusiasm, fresh off their 14-7 victory over Benedictine College Preparatory School. 

The boys were treated to a pizza dinner and wrapped up the evening with the traditional faculty vs. student dodgeball game, which the sixth grade boys won handily.

“My hope today is that they find themselves playing a game, doing a challenge, working in a garden with someone that they don’t hang out with,” said Carrier Friday. “I want to provide opportunities for them to be in different settings with different groups of boys.”