– "Survivor" Field Day –
Friday, November 9, 2007
Carlson's annual field day event includes significant characteristics of our applied-learning program so that it, too, reflects Carlson's unique culture. For example, every year fifth-graders work closely with our physical education teacher, Adrienne Taylor, to identify a field day theme and plan the events accordingly. Fifth-graders also act as team leaders, encouraging their multiage teams of K-5 students to compete and play in an atmosphere that places a high value on the pleasure of active, cooperative participation, where winning isn't everything. So Carlson's field day allows for a remarkable degree of student leadership, and it occurs in an atmosphere that is focused on playing hard and having fun.

This year, Adrienne and her fifth graders gave field day a "Survivor" theme, and it was an exceptional success thanks to their imaginative planning, many parent volunteers' help with setup and supervision, and the students' eager participation. And it didn't hurt that we had a beautiful, blue-sky day, as you can see in the pictures below.
Adrienne Taylor demonstrates how to escape the "hot lava" hazard by navigating the lava rocks and crossing the "branches" to safety.
For the "build a campfire" event, students retrieved and passed on "firewood" in order to gather wood and build a warm fire. In this picture, fifth-grader Kyle, with an armful of wood, successfully completes the race for his team.
Field day is exhausting! Molly takes a much-needed break at the water fountain.
This relay-style event–always a field-day favorite–has teams competing to see which one can be the first to stuff their fifth-grade team leader's sweat suit with balloons. In keeping with this year's "survivor" theme, the idea was to create a "gorilla in the jungle." Pictured here: fifth-grader Pierce and first-grader Aaron.
Kindergartner Sean prepares to stuff a balloon in fifth-grade team leader Christian's sweat suit.
Sarah navigates hot lava boulders as she escapes from the dangers of an erupting volcano.
Tug-of-war, dubbed "lifeline" this year, is a field-day favorite.
Teams moved into the auditorium to send up a "smoke signal," in hopes of being rescued.
The tribe is hungry! To help feed the tribe, team members stomp on a board, sending a bug into the air. They must catch the bug and run back to the tribe. Pictured here: kindergartner Matthew.
This event in the gym is called "survival tag." Fifth-grade team leaders Elizabeth and Isabella must defend their tribe.
"Worms and bugs" is a relay-style game in which players run to the bowl of "worms" (spaghetti) and take one for the tribe to eat. Yuck!
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