The Murals!

Take a look at these awesome creations from all four teams for the Mural competition:

Congratulations to all the students involved in the creation of these fantastic murals. Judging will occur tomorrow and be announced during the day. 

Friday's Tentative Schedule

One more day left in the competition! You're going to need your whole team to come out in force today, right through the final tug of war.

This schedule is tentative and subject to changes. We will finalize the events in the morning

11:30 Puzzle Races (Dining Hall Round Room)

11:30 Spoon Soccer (Dining Hall back area)- 2 pairs from each team

12:30 Super Smash Brothers (East/Davies)

1:30-Upper School Boys Ping Pong (Freeman)- 7 members per team, minimum of 4 to compete

1:30 Lower School Boys Volleyball- All volleyball events are 6v6

2:00 Lower School Girls Volleyball

2:00 Upper School Girls Ping Pong (Mason)- 7 members per team, minimum of 4 to compete (this number may be flexible depending on turn out)

2:00 Lower School Egg Toss- 5 pairs per team (Bowl)

2:15 Upper School Egg Toss- 5 pairs per team (Bowl)

2:30 Upper School Boys Volleyball (Fieldhouse)

3:00 Upper School Girls Volleyball (Fieldhouse)

3:30 Badminton (Fieldhouse)- Upper and Lower class simultaneously.  2 boy/girl pairs from each team for each level.

3:30 Lower School Hardwick Relays (Hardwick Hall Steps)- 6 boys and 6 girls per team

3:30 Twister (Chestnut Chapel)

4:00 Upper School Hardwick Relays (Hardwick Hall Steps)- 6 boys and 6 girls per team

4:30 Lower School Tug of War- 8 boys and 8 girls for each tug of war

5:00 Upper School Tug of War

6:45 Talent Show!

On Scoring

If you've been following along on the Google Spreadsheet, you'll notice that most events following a particular scoring pattern but in certain spots the scoring changes up.

There are really two types of events.

1) Team Events:  Team events are scored out of 70 points and typically awarded 25-20-15-10. The faculty running the event however does have the opportunity to distribute those points differently based upon the rules for their event. The diplomacy scoring from today is a good example of this.

             Some team events are worth double and are scored 50-40-30-20. Today's wrestling is the first example of such an event. The track meet would have been another example. Double events are ones which take longer to complete or significant numbers of students to compete.  

              The Mural Event and the Harlem Shake video will both be worth double because of the number of students and amount of time that goes into it.

               The talent show is a quadruple event and is scored 100-75-50-25.  

2) Individual Events: Individual events are scored based on the top four finishers 10-7-5-3, where a team can win more than one place. In addition, because individual events are typically smaller, participation points are given to teams for each student who shows up to compete.

Rules Post for Thursday

Harlem Shake Video due to Audrey Snyder by 9 pm.

Murals must be completed by 8 pm.

Any talent show requests should be sent to Mr. Wilson by Thursday night.

Insley Ball: Both levels are co-ed with three boys and three girls on the court at the same time. No experience necessary with the game.

Three point shooting: Three boys and three girls per team at both the upper and lower school level. No one who is on a varsity roster for basketball may compete.

Frisbee: Just one game of all interested players. Need a team of 7 to compete, guy and girl numbers must be within one of each other.

Bake-Off Locations
Kelley: Pagotto's Residence
Sharpe: Sykes' Residence
Breed: Browses' Residence
Howard: Evans' Residence

Thursday's Schedule

3:30 Lower School Insley Ball (Fieldhouse)

3:30 Lower School Three Point Shooting Competition (Performance Gym)

3:30 Name that Tune (Chestnut Chapel)

3:30 Bake-Off (Team locations in rule post)

4:00 Upper School Three point Shooting (Performance Gym)

4:30 Frisbee (Turf)

4:30 Tangrams (Weber)

4:30 Upper School Insley Ball (Fieldhouse)- Premier Event!
Objective:  Produce the best unified team celebration when you score and stick to it. Each time your team scores, repeat the motion. Consistency and creativity nets you 10 points for your team.

5:00-8:00 Mural Time (Weber)

An Event Sponsored by the SCC

Your Senior Class Council is sponsoring a brand new event this year- The Harlem Shake competition.

Here are the rules from event runner Audrey Snyder:

Each team should work to create a Harlem Shake video to be submitted to Audrey by 9 pm Thursday night.

The following characteristics will be considered in judging the video:

Creativity, themed to resemble your headmaster team, humor, at least 3 teachers, filmed in an interesting location, bonus points  if there is an actual baby in the video.

Any videos with inappropriate content will be immediately disqualified!

Judging will occur by neutral parties on Thursday night and the winner revealed at Friday School Meeting. 

Rules Post- look ahead for Friday

Geller-Hardwick Relay

This event will be run Friday afternoon (no matter what) at 3:30PM. It takes some coordination to make sure your team is well-chosen for the tasks at hand and in place for the start of the relay. You need 6 girls and 6 boys for your Upper School squad and the same for your Lower School squad. Be at Hardwick Hall front steps by your designated start time and line your team up so we can see that you meet the qualifications. Then everyone will report to their post and the relay will begin.

1.      Race starts at the bell. Run to the turf field and shoot a goal from the 18. Run to your teammate on the endline (goalline) and pass the baton to person 2.

2.      Wait at the endline of the turf soccer field. Run to the gazebo. You will do 5 REAL, CORRECT pushups before passing the baton to person 3.

3.      Wait at the gazebo. Run to Bogle Plaza and set down your baton. Spin a basketball on your finger for 2 continuous minutes. You can use your other hand to keep the ball spinning, but not to save the balance. If the ball drops, start over. Pick your baton back up and pass it to player 4.

4.      Wait at Bogle Plaza. Run to Hardwick Hall steps. Chug a glass of water Pass baton to player 5.

5.      Wait at Hardwick Hall steps. Run to the tennis courts. Make two inbound serves. If you miss, you must retrieve your errant ball, run back to the serving line and go again until you have 2 accurate serves. Pass baton to player 6.

6.       Wait at the entrance to the tennis courts. Run down the gap between the tennis courts to the practice soccer field. Place a bouncy ball between your knees and HOP to the other side (no weird RUNNING). If the ball drops, go all the way back and start over. Pass the baton to player 7 on the other side of the field.

7.      Wait on the far side of the practice field behind the tennis courts. Run to the clock tower. Sing the chorus to the Blair Alma Mater and then hand the baton to player 8.

8.      Wait at the clock tower. Run to the Bowl – You can’t go through buildings! Run around your baseball bat 10 times before passing the baton to player 9.

9.      Wait in the Bowl. Run to Bogle Plaza – no cutting through buildings! Recite the quadratic equation before passing the baton to player 10.

10.  Wait at Bogle Plaza. Run to the putting green.  Make a putt before passing the baton to player 11.

11.  Wait at the putting green. Run to the gap at the track--run one lap of the track, put down your baton, blow up a balloon, tie a knot in the balloon, pick your baton up and deliver it to player 12 at the edge of the track.

12.  Wait at the gap to the track. Run to The Arch – Pass your baton to the finish line steward to determine the order of finish.

Rules Post for Wednesday

We are ending events early tomorrow to encourage students to go to the Boys Varsity Basketball game at St. Benedicts.  Please consider going out to support the boys with the same enthusiasm you brought to the girls game today.

Special Notice for tomorrow

Rules for Wrestling will be announced at the event. Wrestling will be the PREMIER EVENT tomorrow. Figure out the best way to celebrate a pin and earn 10 points for your team.

Track Meet will include 100, 400, 800 and 4X400 relay. If conditions allow, we may do some jumping events or other races.  No Varsity runners allowed in the races.

Diplomacy should last only an hour this year. Players need to bring laptops to submit moves during the event to expedite the process

Ping Pong Events are limited to four players per team. Players need to bring their own paddles and balls.

Erg Relays: 3 boys and 3 girls on both the upper and lower relays. No varsity rowers allowed, no experience necessary

Mural Competition- get those designs into Ms. McEvoy tomorrow and take advantage of the open painting time between 5 and 8.

Good work by those who have been watching the twitter account thus far. More events to come tomorrow!

Wednesday's Event Schedule

Another great day and a tremendous school turn-out at the Girls Varsity Basketball Game.  Also, some ridiculously close Day 2 Scores. Perhaps the closest scores I can remember, but I only have seen 5 of the 10 competitions.

Here's a reminder of the scores:





For some perspective, the gap between 1st and 4th this year after the second day is smaller than the gap between 1st and 2nd last year at the end of the second day. We've probably only awarded one third of the total points for the week, so stay motivated and on top of things!

Here's the tentative schedule for tomorrow:

2:00-4:00 Wrestling (x2) in the Fieldhouse. Everyone should come here first to decide on who is going to wrestle for your team.

3:00 Track Meet (x2) on the Turf.

2:00 Math Team (Bogle)

2:00 Diplomacy (Can)

2:30 Lower School Boys Ping Pong (Freeman)

2:45 RPS TOURNAMENT (Can)

3:00 Lower School Girls Ping Pong (Mason)

3:00 Upper School Erg Relay (Fieldhouse)

3:15 Lower School Erg Relay (Fieldhouse)

4:00 Just Dance- Annie TV room

5:00-8:00 Team mural making- Weber (Just two nights for this!)

Rules for Cup Stacking

Rules for Speed Cup Stacking:
We play 3-6-3
Must work from left to right to build and then unstack
Out of order/cups are not left standing = DQ
Round 1- each competitor goes twice. 4 fastest people move to the finals
Final Round- each finalist gets two tries- best time counts

The Mural Competition

The Commissioner's Office is pleased to present a brand new event to Headmasters' Week, supported by the Fine Arts Department.  

Each team will have the opportunity to create a team Mural later on in the week. 

Teams will receive a 4'x6' piece of plywood on which to create their Mural.  The art rooms will be open on Wednesday and Thursday night from 5 to 8 pm for the painting of these masterpieces, which will then be hung around the school after judging. 

Here are the things that must be included in the mural:

1. Your team name and/or banner, prominently displayed

2. The other team names

3. Something that relates to the history of your headmaster (his life, his time at Blair, what he contributed to the school)

4. A Blair landmark (The arch, the waterfall, timken, whatever!)

5. Charly (yes, Mr. Hardwick's dog)

Murals painting times will be announced on Wednesday. Sketches/Designs for the mural are due into Ms. McEvoy by Wednesday at 2 pm.  

Start planning on your masterpiece!

Rules Post for Tuesday

A few special notes for Tuesday:

NO VARSITY PLAYERS in Soccer. This has not occurred in the past but we are going to hold the line this year.  Please respect this rule.

Lower  School Water Polo is 6v6, 3 boys and 3 girls in the water at once

Upper school squash is 5 players per team, no Varsity players allowed

Cup Stacking has its own rules post already up on the blog, make sure you read it!

Spelling Bee will have a team component and an individual component.

One more post to come tonight, thanks for following along so far!

Tuesday's Schedule

Here is the schedule for Tuesday:

3:30-4:15 Lower School Girls Basketball (Fieldhouse)

3:30-4:15 Upper School Boys Soccer (Turf)

3:30-4:15 Upper School Girls Squash (Courts)

3:30 -Spelling Bee (Cowan)

3:30- 4:15 Lower School Water Polo (Pool)

4:00-  Cup Stacking (Library)

4:15-5:00 Lower School Boys Basketball (Fieldhouse)

4:15-5:00 Upper School Girls Soccer (Turf)

4:15-5:00 Upper School Boys Squash (Courts)

5:00 PREMIER EVENT: Varsity Girls Basketball Game. Get your whole team to the Girls BBall game (team colors are fine!). We will scan the audience in the first and second half for teams with the most colors present.  There's no better way to show your team spirit for Tuesday!

Rules for Lower School Squash on Monday

Just a bit of an update with rules for Lower School Squash:

Teams can consist of up to 5 members. You can play with as few as one, but given that it is a team event you will need a minimum of three players to be able to win the overall match.

JV/Thirds players may participate for a team, but only a maximum of three per squad out of five total players.

Each team will rank its players. JV/Thirds players must be ranked above students who do not play for Blair. Teams without three JV/Thirds players may choose to play their non JV/Thirds players against any rank of the opposing team.

Things to Know for Monday

If you want to win, you have to know the rules!  With so many points available for the week and the wide variety  of events, the Commissioner's Office will be putting out a separate rules post from the schedule each day. Some events will be announced even farther in advance.

Special rules/reminders for Monday:

1) Make sure someone on your team, or many people on your team, are following the Twitter Account @BlairHMS.  There will be at least one event or task each day announced through this account during the hours of 3:30-5:30. It may be that you need to find the answer to a question, bring something to one of the Commissioners or show up to a 5 minute event in a particular location.

2) Premier Events return this year! Premier events are additional opportunities to earn points during hourly competitions, typically based around team spirit and enthusiasm. We have flipped US Girls and Boys basketball this year to put the Premier Event on Upper School Girls Basketball for Monday. Show the most collective team spirit in the gym for the full hour and earn an extra 10 points for your team!

3) Water Polo is a 6v6 event and since it is co-ed, the numbers of guys and girls in the pool must be the same to compete.

4) Quiz Bowl will be a mix of academic and pop culture knowledge. Questions on everything from the color blue to Shakespeare in films to the World Baseball Classic could appear.

Finally, a reminder that Varsity Athletes MAY NOT compete in sports they play during the year. While no varsity basketball players are available on Monday, no varsity soccer players or squash players may compete in the those sports at any level.  Swimmers may compete in Water Polo.

Monday's Schedule

All preliminary games in team events are Howard vs Sharpe and Breed vs Kelley on Monday. This will rotate for each of the next three days.

Check the rules post coming after this one for specific information on particular events.

3:30 Upper School Boys Basketball (Fieldhouse)

3:30 Lower School Boys Soccer (Turf)

3:30 Upper School Water Polo
(3 boys, 3 girls in the water from each team needed to play)

3:30 Quiz Bowl (Cowan)

3:30 Lower Girls Squash (Courts)

4:30 Upper School Girls Basketball (Fieldhouse)-  PREMIER EVENT:
Objective: Most team spirit shown!

4:30 Lower School Girls Soccer (Turf)

4:30 Lower School Boys Squash (Courts)

4:30  POWER Sudoku (Cowan)

4:30- Foosball (Mason/Freeman)

It Begins!

Congratulations and welcome to the following students who have officially been sorted into teams (sorry about the Microsoft Word Spell Check!):

Team Leaders

Student leaders are a critical part of the success of any winning Headmasters' team.  In the past the system for picking/volunteering for leadership has been unique depending on your team. This year we are going to try and standardize the way teams pick their student leaders (this information will be a repeat of what you have already heard at School Meeting on Friday).

This year each team will have the following number of leaders:
4 senior leaders
3 junior leaders
3 sophomore leaders

Leadership positions are going to be broken down into four categories.
1) Spear-Captain: These are the leaders who are the front of the charge to each event, cheering their lungs out, blowing up with team pride to the point where you can't stand to hear anymore about how much they love their team.  Every team needs students others can rally around because of their enthusiasm and commitment to the games. This is a great option for you if you feel that you can really motivate and engage others to commit to a cause.

2) Operations Manager: These are the leaders who are seen less but are critical to the success of a team because they get things done. From making sure events are covered, to organizing the talent show, to managing team emails and communication, this is an important role that often goes overlooked in the management of a quality team. This role is great for anyone who likes to manage, organize and execute.

3) Ambassador : This is a more subtle role than the other two. The Ambassador is responsible for the well-being of all team members and the image of the team as a whole. A good ambassador is making sure students on their team feel worthwhile, supported and invested while simultaneously making sure the team represents itself well in competitions. An ambassador is the one who calms a team down when things get heated or participates in an event that isn't their strong suit to help fill in a gap for the team. This is really leadership by strength of character.

4) Talent Show Specialist: This one is self explanatory. Lots of work goes into each team's talent show and it requires someone who is comfortable pulling people together and running rehearsals, etc...


So you've decided you want to be a leader for your team? Ok, here's what you do:

Team Rosters are posted Sunday at 11 am. Starting at 11 am, you may send an email to the faculty head of your team (or designated faculty member) stating your interest in leading and which ONE of the three positions you think fits your own personal leadership style. Take the time to make a brief but sincere argument about why you would fit into that role and help your team be successful. All applications are due by 4 pm on Sunday. Team leaders will be contacted that night.

Remember, even if you aren't chosen for a leadership position, that doesn't prevent you from being an important influence on your team and making a difference in the week. Plenty of students without the official title have become rallying points and important cogs in the wheel for victorious teams. A good leader doesn't truly need the title to make an impact and is always willing to put the team first!

Sharpe: 2013 Preview

SHARPE

Faculty Head: Ms. Guilmet

2012 Recap:  Sharpe entered the 2012 competition looking to shake off a disappointing 2011 campaign which saw them fall into 4^th place late in the week and never recover. Sharpe came out hot on the first day of competition, winning Upper Girls Basketball and Lower School Squash and finishing second in most other events.  If Howard had not had a historically great first day, Sharpe likely would have found themselves in first place after Monday.  Sharpe was not able to sustain this momentum into Tuesday, as they won just one event in Upper Girls Squash, falling into fourth place by over forty points. Sharpe did not win a single event on Wednesday, but did finish second in the major Wrestling event and tied for first in Diplomacy. Another day of finishing last in the standings made it look like Sharpe was quickly eliminating themselves from contention for the week. Thursday started out in similar fashion for the team, as they struggled to field teams for the Geller relay, but after victories in Rubik’s cube and Lower School Girls Volleyball, Sharpe went on to win five more events over a period of an hour, including most of the three point shooting competitions and the egg drop.  This late charge reduced Kelley’s lead over Sharpe to just twenty-five points heading into Friday. A strong Friday performance in the airplane contest, Upper School Tug of War and Upper School Girls Ping Pong reduced the lead to just 13 points before the talent show. The greatness of Will Wu and company’s dance performance was not enough to beat out Kelley in the Talent Show and ultimately the final standings. Sharpe built a lot of positive momentum in the final two days and hopefully turned the corner as a team for the 2013 competition!

Big Questions: Will Sharpe carry last year's late momentum into a top finish?

                          Will Sharpe's dominance in three point shooting continue?

                          What giant figure will the Sharpe dancers form this year?

Team Roster:

Kelley: 2013 Preview

KELLEY

Faculty Leadership: Ms. Conforti, Mr. Wilson, Ms. Curtis

2012 Recap: Kelley struggled out of the gate in 2012, winning just Upper School Water Polo on Monday, but holding a three point lead over Breed for third place. An aggressive turn around on Tuesday included victories in Lower School boys basketball, Lower School Water Polo and Upper Boys Squash, allowing Kelley to cut into Howard’s overall lead and keep pace with Breed, who leapfrogged them in the standings. Wednesday’s major victory in the Track Meet helped Kelley stay close to Breed in the standings, finishing just ten points back of second place on the strength of a large number of runner-up performances. Despite victories in Puzzle Races, the Lower School Geller Relay and Lower School Dodgeball, Thursday was a tough day for Kelley, as they finished with the lowest number of points overall and finished just 25 points ahead of rival Sharpe for third place heading into the last day of the competition. Kelley needed to finish strong in order to avoid finishing last for the first time in team history. Team Captain and music genius Joe Frick carried his team to a second consecutive Name that Tune victory, but that would be the only event Kelley would win on Friday, allowing Sharpe to come within fifteen points heading into the Talent Show.  Between a  return performance of Tae An’s magical stylings and a funny and well-performed A Cappella number, Kelley managed to edge Sharpe by one place in the talent show and hold onto third by the narrowest of margins.

Big Questions: Will Kelley breakthrough to get their second team victory?

                          Will anyone but Kelley ever win a water polo event?

                           Who will fill the void in music knowledge left by Joe Frick's departure?

Team Roster:

Howard: 2013 Preview

HOWARD

Faculty Leadership: Mr. Facciani, Mr. Padden

Howard 2012 Recap:  Coming off a difficult 2011 competition in which Howard spent most of the week in fourth place before making a late charge to overtake Sharpe on the last day, Howard spent Monday of these games building on the momentum they started at the end of the previous year. In what is likely the best first day in HMS history, Howard won 7 events on the first day and raced out to a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the week.  Showing off the diversity of their athleticism, Howard won events across the board, from LS Girls basketball to US Boys soccer. Meanwhile the mental capabilities of Howard led to dominance in Quiz Bowl, Sudoku, Math Team and Diplomacy. There were very few weaknesses in the 2012 Howard team, allowing the green machine to race out to a big lead and continue to lead the field for every minute of the 2012 HMS competition. As the Talent Show began, Howard had the luxury of going last due to their lead in the competition. What few students knew as the show started was that Howard had already locked up the 2012 title. This didn’t stop Howard from presenting a memorable and electrifying finale to the competition, lighting up the auditorium with a show of the team unity which had characterized their successful week. 

Team Roster:

Big Questions:   Can Howard repeat as champion for the second time in HMS history?

                            Will Howard continue to sweep the intellectual events?

                             How will Howard top last year's talent show performance?

The First (and maybe most important) Challenge

HMS is primarily about Blair. If you stop and think about the transformation we undergo as a school for one week, it is astounding how much team spirit appears out of thin air and how wholeheartedly the community commits to this experience which has been built up over the past ten years.

It is an admirable characteristic of our community that we can care in this way, about a title we've created to give to ourselves,  simply because it's fun, it's engaging and collectively we all (mostly) believe in the purpose of doing this for a week.

That energy we generate as a community should also be used to think about the world around us and the way the school can help assist those in need.  Every year there is a single aspect of the week dedicated to helping others, something that I hope to change in future years. But for now, we have just one and its the Blood Drive run through the Health Center.

You've seen the facts, you know how important and necessary donating blood is for the health of people worldwide.  Heck, we even give you points for it (1 point for your team for signing up, 2 points for each person that actual shows up).

So here's our challenge to the school: Make your first act of HMS week not about yourself or your team, but about helping people. Sign up today for the Blood Drive, fill up the 50 spots available and follow through on showing up that day to contribute.

As a thank you, if we reach 50 sign-ups by the end of the week, we will bring back Insley Ball this year to the schedule. It's been gone for a few years and often requested, so this is the way you can help bring it back.

Sign up yourself and encourage those of appropriate age on your team to do so as well!

Breed: 2013 Preview

BREED

Faculty Head: Mr. Browse

2012 Recap:  Breed started off their defense of the 2011 crown with a difficult first day of competition, failing to win a single event from Monday’s schedule.  The fortunes of the team changed on Tuesday, with big victories in Upper Girls Soccer and a dominating Spelling Bee which saw the debut of new powerhouse Dan Kim, who demolished the competition with expedient and perfect spelling.  Team pride was high as sixty-five team members showed up for the Girls basketball state final, the highest turn out of the competition. By winning Tuesday, Breed climbed into second place and cut Howard’s lead in half.  Wednesday started out with third place finishes in both Wrestling and Track Meet, allowing Howard to stretch out the lead before victories in Lower School Ping Pong and the Buddy Game kept Howard from running off with the competition after only three days.   On Thursday Breed rallied with major victories in the extensive Faculty/Student squash event, the brand new Geller relay, the classic Egg Toss and Lower School Boys Volleyball.  Winning Thursday put the competition within reach heading into the last day of the competition.  A back and forth battle which saw Breed win Twister and Badminton during the last day of competition ultimately ended with Breed behind by 80 points heading into the Talent Show, a margin too large to overcome.  The Breed Talent show act, involving a student band and salsa dancing was very unique with respect to traditional HMS acts and showed the depth of ability the squad has for future performances.

Team Roster: Here is the returning roster for Breed

Big Questions:  

• Will Breed continue to channel the spirit of Chris Morales and Dan Kim and dominate the Spelling Bee?
• Can Breed get off to a better start on Monday and avoid playing catch up all week?
• Will Breed be the first team to win four HMS titles?

 

The 10th Annual Competition

We are pleased to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Headmasters' Societies this year, as the competition began back in 2004. Did you know that there's a trophy for the games which resides in the Student Life Office? If you went there, you'd find the following winners from years past:

2004- Breed

2005- Sharpe

2006- Howard

2007- Howard

2008- Kelley

2009- Breed

2010- Sharpe

2011- Breed

2012- Howard

In addition, we have the following full final standings and scores from the last two years:

2011 Competition

2012 Competition

Lots more points were in play in 2012 and that will likely continue to be a theme of the competition this year. The more of your team members you can get involved, active and competing in the various events, the better off your score will be at the end of the week.   We'll be adding some helpful suggestions on how to plan your team's strategy and events using tools already available to you at Blair as we get closer to the big kickoff. 

Welcome to the HMS Blog

Welcome to the Headmasters' Societies Blog for the 2013 competition!

If you are a returning student your alliances have already been well established and you are perhaps starting up your team's facebook page or dreaming of moments in basketball glory, spelling excellence or cup stacking expediency.

If you are new to the school, you probably are wondering why random people are telling you that you are "definitely a Breed" or "act just like a Kelley".  To explain this week simply, the whole school breaks into four teams and competes in on over 50 different events over the course of the week for points. The team with the most points at the end of the Talent Show on Friday night wins bragging rights until we start up again the following February.

So Howard team members can enjoy one more week of pride until the scores are reset on Monday February 18th and the title is once again on the line.

If you are new, team assignments are done randomly by the Commissioner's Office and will be posted on this blog and outside the Student Life Office at 11 am on Sunday, February 17th.

There's some new additions to the week this year, the first of which is this new blog, where the Commissioner's Office will post schedules, scores, rosters and write-ups of the week.

In addition, you'll want to follow the handle "BlairHMS" on Twitter or risk missing out on some important chances for points as well as get up to the minute updates as events finish.

We are excited to once again bring you a week filled with enthusiasm, good sportsmanship and moments you'll remember throughout your time at Blair!

Next Up: Team previews for the 2012 Competition!

rules for Badminton

The rules of badminton:

One mixed team from each society for lower school and one for upper school

Flip a coin for the first serve. Change serve after 3 points

First team to 15 wins. Must win by two and score on any serve.

Best of three games moves on to next round.

Winners bracket vies for 1^st and 2^nd

Losers bracket vies for 3^rd and 4th

Rules for Bake Off

Rules for Bake Off:
Each society team must have a faculty sponsor. Student members will do the preparation, cooking, and presentation.You must use the "secret ingredient" provided.
Judges' opinion will be final and not subject to appeal.