On Monday, May 18, the 2026 Junior Olympics began. This highly anticipated juniors-only competition split the class of 2027 into five teams based on elementary school. The surprise announcement came over the loudspeakers and in an email sent at the end of fourth period. The junior class was told via email on Wednesday, April 22 that the Junior Olympics could break out any time from Monday, May 18 to Friday, June 5, however they were not told the exact date.

“I was expecting it to be very fun and I was excited to take photos in our shirts and have a field day. It exceeded my expectations because I expected it to be a fun day with my friends, and I didn’t really get to spend time with my friends during it but I still had a fun time anyway,” Greenacres resident Walker Lewis ’27 said.

“I was really excited for the afternoon off from school, and I was also excited to kind of relive elementary school. We haven’t really done field day since elementary school so it was nice to do it again,” Heathcote resident Jasleen Virk ’27 commented.

The competition lasted from the end of fourth period until around 2:30PM. Each student competed in four competitions, which included Steal the Bacon, Name that Tune, Dodgeball, Capture the Flag, Pictionary, Relay Races, and Trivia. Afterwards, the team captains played a final game of Tug-of-War, which was followed by the awards ceremony and dismissal. 

“It was less intimate than I thought it would be, meaning that I thought the challenges would be team versus team instead of all the teams against each other,” Virk explained. “I wish tug of war was more people than just the captains.” 

Lewis agreed. “I didn’t really enjoy the tug of war because I didn’t compete in that.”

Each elementary school had its own T-shirt designed by students from the class of 2027. Students got to pick a nickname for the back of their T-shirt and got to vote for which team leaders they wanted to represent their elementary school. 

The Junior Olympics fell on one of the first extremely hot days of the spring, which made competitions exhausting for many students, but many appreciated the opportunity to get outside, especially during school hours. “It was hot, so that made it kind of exhausting, but it was kind of nice because I like hot weather and that gave it summer vibes,” Lewis said. 

Fox Meadow won, securing their victory through an intense game of tug of war between the team leaders. The Fox Meadow team leaders proudly won every one of their tug-of-war matches, leading to an overall win.

“I had a great time and I liked that I got to spend time with people that I am not really close with. The vibes were really high,” Lewis said.