2021: Shop Games!
Since 2018, LCCTC students have looked forward to earning the Golden Eagle Shop Game Trophy; after having missed out last year, the lead-up to this year’s Shop Games was mixed with an air of excitement and curiosity.
Destiny Fishel, a new Peer Leader, considers, “As a first-year, I didn’t know what to expect. At first I was shy at the thought of being a Peer Leader, but I have come to realize that it’s a really great group filled with lots of fun people who don’t mind putting in a lot of effort to help others in many different ways. I certainly didn’t understand what Shop Games was all about. Working with Peer Leadership to help the games transition smoothly was great! I learned a lot about what makes this school special, and I can't wait to see the things we do next year!”
No less goofy than before, this year’s games took place in the fresh-open air. Tables for each shop were spread around the perimeter of the courtyard outside of the library. On top of each were stacked familiar items to the games: traffic cones, large flour sacks and bandanas.
However, also included were a mysterious menagerie of coffee cups, dowel rods, frisbees, hula hoops, metal nuts, pencils, and rubber bands. What sort of shenanigans did the Peer Leaders plan for THIS year? Stacking nuts without touching them! Knocking down a tower of picnic cups with rubber bands! And slapping down a frisbee tossed into a hula hoop that even Dikembe Mutombo would be proud to see — Can’t you hear it? “No, no, no. . . Not in my house!”
Here’s what a few students had to say about the experience:
“The best experience by far was getting to compete with my fellow shop members against all of my friends in the other shops.” ~Terry Baker (MTT) sophomore
My favorite part of Shop Games was working with my shop as a team, laughing, and just having a good time.” ~Aaron Brown (CT) junior
“I really enjoyed the cup stacking game. It was amazing having so much fun with all the kids!” ~Kamara Douglas (AT) junior
“I’ve never raced in a sack race before today, and I had a lot of fun -- even though I fell a few times!” ~Kieara Gibbons (HA) junior
“Getting to be outside and have a conversation with my friends. Focusing on just having fun and not COVID. It was just plain ol’ fun!” ~Duane Green (CR) senior
“The best part of the whole shop game day was not that we won or that it was competitive,; it was that worked together as a whole class. We cheered each other on and all of the shops had the best day together. My shop came together; I found this to be the best part of my experience because finally it felt like I was not alone, and that I could let go and be myself.” ~Skye Moore (Cos) junior
“Though we were still separated into our shops and weeks, it felt good to experience ‘normal’. Being outside in the fresh air and seeing everyone just having a lot of fun was great.” ~Matt Myers (CT) junior
It’s easy to see that the games are meant to share a laugh and bring everyone together, and that’s exactly what the games did. Each team cheered for their shop, but they kept a friendly Eagle Eye on the competition to see who might be in the lead.
At the end of the day, the winners were announced:
“In third place . . . with a score of five-hundred fifty-eight points: Machine Tool Tech!”
“In second place . . . with a score of six-hundred one points: Electrical Occupations!”
“And the first place winners . . . of the 2021 Shop Games . . . (cue drum roll) . . . with a total score of six-hundred seventy-four points . . . is . . . “
“COSMETOLOGY!”
Ear-splitting screams and cheers of joy erupted from the wing where cosmetology calls home all the way up the ramp and in almost every academic classroom from A-Week Cosmetology students!
“I think the best part for me was seeing all my Cosmo kids support each other and cheer each other on,” states Mrs. Jones, “Coach” of the winning shop team. “The kids were all amazing today!”
And when you consider that LCCTC is a melting pot of students from each of the eight sending districts, it’s amazing to think that many of these kiddos were strangers at the start of the year. It is now officially evident -- in spite of virtual learning and the unrest that looms as a constant reminder of the negativity that can be in our world -- LCCTC students demonstrated that “we ARE rising” as they joined together and cheered each other on. Today was just one of the many examples of “family” that occurs both in the shop and across the campus throughout the year at LCCTC.
