Spirit Days at Ranney School

After donating various items and funds to Holiday Express and other charities throughout New Jersey, Head of School, Dr. Lawrence Sykoff, gave a well-deserved gift back to each division at Ranney. As a reward for all of their hard work throughout the community over the past several weeks, Dr. Sykoff declared numerous days throughout the winter season as “Spirit Days.”

Aside from granting students, faculty members and administrators the opportunity to dress-down in blue and white every Friday, “Spirit Days” also present something fun, exciting, silly or remarkable each Friday at 2 o’clock on campus — in the Lower, Middle or Upper School, or in all three divisions simultaneously! In taking the meaning of “School Spirit” one step further, each division expanded dress-down days to include various themes such as “Crazy Sock Day,” “Flannel Day,” “Mix & Match Day” and “Panther Paw Print Day,” to name a few.

To promote student interaction and fun, divisions have also opted to hold special contests on “Spirit Days.” While it hosted “Are you Smarter than a Ranney Fifth Grader” one Friday in the Commons during lunch, future Fridays in the Lower School will also feature Homeroom Door Decorating contests, a Hoop Shooting contest and Post Cards from Around the World event.

During the “Are you Smarter than a Ranney Fifth Grader” presentation, Head of the Lower School Patricia Marshall, along with Assistant Head of the Lower School Shana Lindsey and Lower School Curriculum Coordinator Bridget Looney, worked together to answer questions developed by fifth grade students at Ranney. Questions ranged from subject areas like math, science, spelling, history and more. For instance, during the competition, one student asked for the meaning of the mathematical initials ‘G-C-F,’ which contestants correctly answered as “Greatest Common Factor.”

Like the Lower School, members of the Middle School hosted a very similar “Are You Smarter than a Ranney Fifth Grader” competition. The event, held in RSPA Panther Hall on December 17, featured eight Middle School students, grades six through eight, and eight Middle School faculty members from various subject fields. When asked a question by Mr. Doyle or Mr. Ling, a pair of two students and a pair of two faculty members worked against each other to reach the right answer. From the student’s team, which gained a total of 18 correct answers throughout the event, were participants such as Kyra Citron ’16, Dean Parker ’16, Audrey Effenberger ’15, Sabrina Arbes ’15, John Mejia ’15 and Anna Xia ’15. Meanwhile, the faculty team, which earned 23 correct answers to win the competition, was comprised of Middle School faculty and administration members like Mr. Fischer, Mrs. Wade, Ms. Fricchione, Mr. Meharg and Ms. Caverly, to name a few.

Similar to the Lower School, Upper School students also competed in a Door Decorating contest. Keeping in mind the objective of spreading holiday cheer throughout Ranney, students created awe inspiring masterpieces. In the end, five doors were chosen to receive a catered advisee lunch at an off-campus restaurant. They were:

Best in Show - Mrs. Fernandez’s Advisory (Hula Holiday)

Best Theme - Mrs. Schwake’s Advisory (Schwakes in the City)

Most Creative - Mr. Felter’s Advisory (Felter’s Lonely Heart)

Most Festive - Ms. Repoli’s Advisory (Santa, Reindeer and Sleigh)

Most Thoughtful/Conceptual - Dr. Delgado’s Advisory (Holiday Blues)

Other fun activities hosted throughout the Upper School were movie presentations of “8 Crazy Nights” and “Elf” in the Dining Hall during lunch, a chocolate fountain and dessert social, and a Dodge Ball Tournament during P.E.

Seventh and eighth grade students were also invited to attend the Upper School Dodge Ball Tournament. Balls flew as enthusiastic students cheered for their classmates, who participated in battles that featured sophomores against eighth graders, seniors versus juniors and so on. As a result of winning the match, the junior class was awarded a dress-down day.

While providing a fun, yet comfortable and enriching learning environment at Ranney, the school thanks students, faculty members, parents and administrators for opening their hearts throughout this season of giving and congratulates them on a job well done.

For additional information on all Ranney School news, please contact the Communications Department at communications@ranneyschool.org.