Members of the high school student team and teacher team pose together with the secondary schools division championship trophy. The two teams tied this year.
¨I had a great time at the Battle of the Buildings,” Social Studies teacher Marcello Negrette said. “We did significantly better than last year. While we were not the sole winners, it was still great to share a victory with the student team. Overall, it was very exciting. There were games I did not expect to do well in, as well as games that I expected to do well in that did not go as expected. The student team and the middle school kept it very competitive. There wasn’t a moment when I felt that there was a clear winner. The atmosphere in the gymnasium is why I decided to do it again this year and why I want to continue next year.¨
The high school hosted the 15th annual Battle of the Buildings for the school district on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Friendship Elementary teacher Seth Catherman pushing himself to try and finish the hockey relay. Most participants can easily identify their favorite events. “My favorite game to participate in is the football relay,” Catherman said. “I was always good at throwing and catching the football.¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreHigh school Electronic Arts teacher Wade Bowers pushes himself by stacking the cups as fast as he can so he can get the points for his team. ¨I believe my favorite was the cup stacking, ping pong challenge,” Bowers said. “I love playing. ping pong, so I felt confident in that game. I felt that there was no one specific event, but it felt like throughout the whole competition, we stayed positive and really cheered each other on even when we made mistakes. It was a variety of ages and we all worked well together.¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreHigh school English teachers Emma Stiffler and Kelly Porter hold arms staying as close as possible to not let the hula hoop drop to the floor during this relay race. ¨When Ms. Porter and I first found out that we were in the hula hoop challenge, we talked about how we might approach it during the practice before the Battle of the Buildings,” Stiffler said. “We first said that we were going to say the name of the person’s direction we were going. When we got to the challenge, we saw a few others go before us. From what we saw, we decided to shift our plan a bit. We held hands, stayed low, and still used the communication tactic we originally came up with. All of these factors combined helped us zig-zag through the cones quickly and without dropping the hula hoop. It was a bit nerve racking as we were trying to get to the other side of the court as fast as we could, but having Ms. Porter, who is also a friend of mine, I think contributed to our success.¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreThe high school student team works together during the box stacking competition. Mackenzie Hodge is the Student Council president and was on the student team.¨There was definitely some pressure because we were down by a few points. We had thought about it earlier and decided to have each person go in order of height. We mainly focused on keeping the tower balanced with our placement of the boxes,¨ Hodge said. Photograph by Peyton Elmore Members of the high school student team and teacher team pose together with the secondary schools division championship trophy. The two teams tied this year. ¨I had a great time at the Battle of the Buildings,” Social Studies teacher Marcello Negrette said. “We did significantly better than last year. While we were not the sole winners, it was still great to share a victory with the student team. Overall, it was very exciting. There were games I did not expect to do well in, as well as games that I expected to do well in that did not go as expected. The student team and the middle school kept it very competitive. There wasn’t a moment when I felt that there was a clear winner. The atmosphere in the gymnasium is why I decided to do it again this year and why I want to continue next year.¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreFans for Friendship Elementary get loud and boisterous while cheering on their teacher team during the Battle of the Buildings. Friendship’s team won the championship for the primary schools division. Photograph by Peyton ElmoreFriendship Elementary School’s team works together to try and beat the other teams on stacking boxes on each other by tossing boxes on top of one another. Friendship Elementary teacher Kristin Martinak wasn’t too concerned about this challenge. “We (Team FES) had practiced it during our pep rally earlier that day and were successful with stacking the boxes multiple times,” Martinak said. “We knew it could be done, we just needed to stay focused on our stack. We knew who our strengths were going into the challenge, so we were sure to capitalize on them throughout the game while staying calm and positive.¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreMiddle school students bring the energy in cheering on their teachers during Battle of the Buildings. 8th grader Lauren Barsotti and her friends attended the event. “The battle of the buildings was really entertaining,” Barsotti said. “I was cheering on the SMS team almost the whole time, and it felt interesting seeing my teachers going against other school teams.” Photograph by Peyton Elmore
Fans for Shrewsbury Elementary show their excitement during this year’s Battle of the Buildings. Shrewsbury Elementary School’s team won the Spirit Award this year. That is given annually to the team that has the most spirited cheering section. Photograph by Peyton ElmoreChief Operations Officer Sue Green and superintendent Dr. Robert Bryson pose with a giant check denoting the funds raised for the Southern York County School District Foundation from the event. Roughly $9,700 was raised to go toward student scholarships. ¨It felt outstanding to be able to host such an awesome event that helps grow our pride in the school district and community while also being able to give back to the Foundation that does so much for the students within our district,’¨ Bryson said. Photograph by Peyton ElmoreTeachers from Southern Elementary and Friendship Elementary gang up on Shrewsbury Elementary teacher to knock the cup off the pool noodle during the Battle of the Buildings. Shrewsbury Elementary teacher Shannon Walker was a fan of this event. “It was so much fun to run around and dodge the other teams,” Walker said. “The cheers from the crowd were so amazing to hear. There was so much energy in the gym and it was electric to feel it! Battle of the Buildings is always such a great time of togetherness and community and I love being a part of it!¨ Photograph by Peyton ElmoreMiddle school teachers Melissa Bazner and Brandy Christiansen work together talking to keep the hula hoop up and not drop it trying to get it across the gymnasium. ¨I enjoyed the Hula Hoop game. It was very silly,” Bazner said. “I didn’t enjoy the box stacking game because it made me feel extremely short. However, our team worked very well together for that game and was able to get 6 out of 7 boxes stacked up. This was my first experience participating in Battle of the Buildings and I really enjoyed it! I had a lot of 8th-grade fans in the stands supporting me with cheers and signs, so that was fun. This is my last Battle of the Buildings, since I will be retiring at the end of this school year.¨ Photograph by Peyton Elmore
