Sports Day
Thursday and Friday of this week were Sports Days: Thursday was for the Nursery and Kindergarten classes while Friday was for the P and M students.
For the past couple weeks there have been preparations for Sports Day: classes were shortened to allow for practice and many students stayed after school as well. It culminated in the spectacle that was "Sports Day: 2007".
I don’t have any pictures of the N and K day, as in my infinite wisdom I forgot to put batteries into my camera. I remembered on the second day, though, and if I manage to borrow someone’s pictures for Thursday I’ll post those as well.
The day began with a parade around the school grounds starting at 8 AM. Many students were dressed in elaborate costumes. The kids were organized into teams by colour: pink, blue, purple and red. We had been assigned teams and I was a member of Red.
Some of the costumes were…different. I wondered exactly what sport or aspect of sport was being showcased by these get-ups:
It was a bit difficult to deal with seeing my students dressed like that. These girls asked me if they looked beautiful: I didn’t know what to say. They are beautiful girls, yes. They are also 12 years old. It is so strange that in a society where being modest is expected, there is a day set aside where children are showcased in outfits such as these.
Part of the opening ceremonies was choreographed dancing routines; in this one, one of my students, Indy, sang “We Are the Champions” with chilling talent.
Cheerleading competitions occurred throughout the day. I was impressed that the children had managed to learn several dances in a short time; this encourages me for the year-end concert. I think it’s going to be amazing, considering it’s supposed to be an even bigger deal than Sports Day.
Not a whole lot of “Sports” happen on Sports Day…there are fun games and activities scheduled, but not every student has a chance to participate. There are also “regular” sports played, and more kids get to play in those (as they are wide team sports like Basketball and Football). It’s too bad that it apparently wasn’t possible to facilitate a day where everyone got to play.
The main purpose of Sports Day was to entertain the kids and let them have fun as a school. For the most part, I think it was a success. Even though I don’t agree with everything that happens in the school or in Thailand, I do agree that the children should come first.
Until next time,
Heather
For the past couple weeks there have been preparations for Sports Day: classes were shortened to allow for practice and many students stayed after school as well. It culminated in the spectacle that was "Sports Day: 2007".
I don’t have any pictures of the N and K day, as in my infinite wisdom I forgot to put batteries into my camera. I remembered on the second day, though, and if I manage to borrow someone’s pictures for Thursday I’ll post those as well.
The day began with a parade around the school grounds starting at 8 AM. Many students were dressed in elaborate costumes. The kids were organized into teams by colour: pink, blue, purple and red. We had been assigned teams and I was a member of Red.
Some of the costumes were…different. I wondered exactly what sport or aspect of sport was being showcased by these get-ups:
It was a bit difficult to deal with seeing my students dressed like that. These girls asked me if they looked beautiful: I didn’t know what to say. They are beautiful girls, yes. They are also 12 years old. It is so strange that in a society where being modest is expected, there is a day set aside where children are showcased in outfits such as these.
Part of the opening ceremonies was choreographed dancing routines; in this one, one of my students, Indy, sang “We Are the Champions” with chilling talent.
Cheerleading competitions occurred throughout the day. I was impressed that the children had managed to learn several dances in a short time; this encourages me for the year-end concert. I think it’s going to be amazing, considering it’s supposed to be an even bigger deal than Sports Day.
Not a whole lot of “Sports” happen on Sports Day…there are fun games and activities scheduled, but not every student has a chance to participate. There are also “regular” sports played, and more kids get to play in those (as they are wide team sports like Basketball and Football). It’s too bad that it apparently wasn’t possible to facilitate a day where everyone got to play.
The main purpose of Sports Day was to entertain the kids and let them have fun as a school. For the most part, I think it was a success. Even though I don’t agree with everything that happens in the school or in Thailand, I do agree that the children should come first.Until next time,
Heather
posted by Heather @ 4:55 AM
3 Comments:
At 3:35 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Heather,
Did any parents attend or help out? Curious as to who the audience was that the kids dressed up and performed for. Hey, maybe Queen has a potential lead singer there!
We've had sports days but it's a rotation of games and activities where all the kids participate and teachers get thoroughly exhausted making sure every body gets a turn, no hurt feelings, all are hydrated, sunblocked, fed, and bathroom breaks! etc.
At 6:53 PM,
Heather said…
There were TONS of parents there. For the N and K day, I'd estimate that there were more parents there than children. They mostly spectated, a few seemed to be helpful.
It was entirely exhausting for us as well; it was a loud, hot and long couple of days. Worth it though to see how excited and happy the kids were!
At 1:06 PM,
Anonymous said…
When I went to Sports Day in NE Thailand, all the local teams wanted to challenge my group to sports, so we played soccer all morning, then tug-of-war. I ripped a lot of muscles in my neck and shoulders doing the tug-of-wars.
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