To begin the day's events, students were broken into 3 small groups formed by 3-5 members of both the fifth and sixth grade classes. Students were given 20 spagetti strands, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard of string, a giant (beastly) marshmallow and 18 minutes to complete the challenge. Students were asked to collaborate with teammebers to create a free-standing structure that could hold the full marshmallow on top. The group with the tallest (and sturdiest) structure would be named the winner. Although one group managed to craft a nearly foot-tall structure that was sturdy enough to hold "the beast", the structure fell just as the time ran down. The title of challange winner therefore, was named to the only other structure that survived the count down- a structure that stood no more than a mere centemeter off the ground. While it was a shocking upset, students learned the importance of listening to their teammates ideas and were given an opportunity to practice trial and error strategies.

 

Following The Marshmallow Challenge, student-athletes were resplit into two larger groups of 6-7 members and prepared themselves for the series of Minute-to-Win It Games that succeeded. Each team was asked to chose one to two members to participate in each challenge. The games included,Scoop It Up, Cookie Face, Movin' On Up, Stack Attack, Defying Gravity and Office Tennis. Students were both competative with and supportive of their teammates, cheering eachother on and sharing words of encouragement. While it was a long day in the classroom, students-athletes were challenged and engaged during all of the days activities. Each was given an opportunity to work with other teammates that they may not have yet formed a relationship with, while others came out of the day with a new sense of confidence and trust in their teammates abilities as a whole. All in all, the bonding activity day proved to be a productive way to allow students to understand the positive effects of creativity, sportsmanship and team-work.