olympics @cha

every four years our school celebrates the olympics as its school-wide theme.  i am a huge fan of the olympics and love that the school embraces the spirit and competition of these games.

we had the opening ceremonies in november and the kids have been competing all year long in team sports.  they had 7 teams representing various countries and learned about the different cultures throughout the year.

this time around the kids were representing mexico.  the team spirit was great from each of the different countries.

at the end of the year we have a festival that incorporates everything that they have learned during the year. we had an olympic village which showcased the children's academic work and served as a resting spot for the kids.  

each child was given a sash and pins from their country.  they then got to trade pins with kids from other countries just like they do at the real olympics.  there was a contest to design a pin from each of the countries.  jordan's design was chosen to represent mexico.

the day started with a performance from each of the countries.  i love that all of the kids sang all of the songs.  we've been listening to them around the house for the last few months.  they sang "africa" from the world cup for kenya, "don't cry for me argentina" for argentina, "jai ho" for india.

for mexico the kids rocked out to "la bamba."  sofia really put on the magic while she was up there.  she had a big smile and danced her little heart out.  i love seeing her on stage and i want to encourage her to do it more often.

after the performance, the kids competed in five individual events of their choosing.  my kids chose:

long jump

frisbee toss

50 meter race

softball throw

swimming - where jordan set the record for the day. and it had nothing to do with bobby being the timer, or his swim coach being the lifeguard.  but it did have something to do with the fact that he is 6 inches taller, the pool is pretty small and swimming is his sport.  either way, he deserved it.

each of these events earned points for their country which were tallied on a huge chart.

we then gathered under the tent to eat an international feast of fajitas, rice, empanadas, bangers, hummus and pita bread.

after lunch we watched the teams compete in the finals for the team sports.  andrew played soccer for the gold.  he looked really nervous on the court and even more nervous when they put him in as goalie.  the score was 1-0 mexico.  south korea pulled their goalie in the last minute of the game to try to tie it up.  mexico's goalie threw the ball into play, andrew dribbled it all the way to the net and scored a goal for mexico.  the crowd went wild!  and the look on his face was disbelief, relief and sheer joy.  it was priceless.  mexico won the gold 2-0.

 we gathered in the olympic village for closing ceremonies and to hear the kids sing their final song.


they also sent off their wishes with bubbles.

after  a long day, and a visit to the book fair (thanks to tito and tita) the kids spent time reading while we cleaned up.

it was an exhausting and exhilarating day.  we will gather again in 2015 to celebrate the games of the 14th olympiad at cha.