By Corey S.,

Shouts of, “Independence!” and, “America!” awoke students on July 4th as they got ready to celebrate the day America declared itself free.

To celebrate this special day, Paul G., the Activity Coordinator, led a special chapel service. This service included excerpts from some of America’s well-known oratories, such as The Preamble and Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech, as well as uplifting hymns  like The Battle Hymn of the Republic. “All the quotes went together really well, and at the end you were left with a sense of patriotism,” said Drew G.

To battle the stifling heat, students waged water-balloon warfare. The fight was each house for itself.  Each house was allotted 500 water-balloons, and given instructions to soak the other houses!
Betton House went at Lake House with shields, while Mann House moved their supply of balloons in efforts to rush Talbot House. After the supply of balloons was exhausted everyone joined together to pick up the pieces.

The water-balloon fight wasn’t the only place where there was rivalry though. The Houses also picked ten students each to compete in tug-of-war. The boys’ tournament was double elimination, with pecking order of Betton House on top, Lake House in second, Mann House in third, and Talbot House on the bottom. The girls had their own tug-of-war game, but there were no set teams.

Along with a healthy dose of competion, the afternoon had a carnival-like feel about it. Students ate barbecued chicken off the grill, and corn-on-the-cob.  There was an inflatable jousting arena and dunk tank. Cotton-Candy and Snow-Cones were a real favorite.  A patriotic Rachel D. said, “I saw about as much Cotton-Candy as I did red, white, and blue!” Students could also play vollyball or four-square.
The days activities were cordinated by Paul Geer, who, despite feeling under the weather, made sure everything happened according to plan.