Graphic courtesy of the Choate Student Council
After returning to campus on the weekend of January 29, students entered a mandatory quarantine in their dorms. To liven up the period, the Student Council implemented the first-ever Choate Dorm Olympics, an opportunity for students to grow closer within their dorms, especially with the arrival of new boarding students, while also remaining socially distanced. The competition wrapped up on February 8, with the Spencer Stallions taking home the grand prize and the Nichols Nickels and the Combo Cholulas placing second and third, respectively.
Created by Sixth-Form Representative Matthew Syms ’21, the Dorm Olympics are a series of competitions and activities designed to promote dorm spirit and entertainment. The first place prize is a movie night for the Spencer Stallions in Colony Hall, while the Nichols Nickels, coming in second place, will receive a campfire and mug night on Memorial Field. Third place, the Combo Choloulas, will have the opportunity to order food free of charge. Additionally, the most spirited and creative dorms — the Woodhouse B. Wangs and the Homestead Honeybees, respectively — will each receive doughnuts for the dorm. The event also incorporated remote students, where the best remote competitor will receive a package of Choate merchandise.
Every night at 9:45 p.m. ET, Syms announced the cumulative dorm rankings for the day and introduced the next event. On the first day, sign-ups opened for dorms and remote students alike, with the task being to devise a team name, mascot, banner, and cheer. Among the 30 dorms on campus, 25 signed up, with four remote students competing individually.
On the second day, participants competed in a live trivia competition hosted by Patrick Finnerty ’21.
For day three, dorms dressed up a dorm member as their team’s mascot using at most one piece of apparel.
On day four, in collaboration with Choate Interact Club, participants had the opportunity to fulfill community service hours by recording short videos reading children’s books for the nearby Moses Y. Beach Elementary School.
To finish the competition, students played Pictionary with Head of School Dr. Alex Curtis and Dean of Students Mr. Mike Velez ’00, who drew pictures of words prompted by Syms.
Reflecting on the events, members of the community have agreed that the Dorm Olympics were a great opportunity for dorm bonding and enjoyment. Michael Korvyakov ’23 of the Spencer Stallions said, “I definitely enjoyed the Olympics. My favorite event was the trivia night because it involved our entire dorm and was very dynamic.”
Kenadi Waymire ’21 of the McCook Musketeers agreed. She said, “The Dorm Olympics have been a lot of fun. As a dorm, we’ve spent a decent amount of time doing trivia, working on the idea for our team, and dressing up a prefect to show off our mascot. I think the Dorm Olympics should definitely happen all-year round, sort of like a house points system. It’d create so much more loyalty towards one’s dormitory.”
