BRES: Welcome to the Herd Field Day

Story Submitted by BRES.

The Bennett Ranch Field Day is something slightly different than most elementary school field days. To start it happens at the end of August, just before Labor Day weekend. This is for a couple of reasons and the first is that it is important to have grade level teachers get to see their new classes in a different setting and see how their students interact in team building, challenges and competitive settings. This helps the teachers develop a better understanding of the different and unique personalities of the students. This also provides them an opportunity to see how their class acts to different instructors, which is helpful for guest speakers, field trips and more. Furthermore, since this is a community school event day it provides the opportunity for parents to come and be a part of their students' class.

The second reason that the Bennett Ranch Field Day is unique is that all of the stations have Falcon Middle School 8th graders to run and support them. This is something that Mr. Wells started the first year Bennett Ranch was open and wanted to create an event that supported both Falcon Middle and Bennett Ranch. The first year there were about 35 8th graders that applied to help run 12 stations. All of those students had to submit an application, get teacher recommendations, go through an interview process, get parent and administrator approval and be one of the 20 students that were selected. This year there were over 90 8th graders, with many being former Bennett Ranch students, and only 34 were selected. For many of these students this opportunity is a day that provides them an experience that they will not forget. Many of them gain a greater understanding for what teachers do day in and day out as well as develop new skills on how to work with 16-23 kindergarten students at the same time for 15 minutes. This collaboration between Bennett Ranch and Falcon Middle has become a yearly event that many middle school students look forward to when they become 8th graders.

The third reason for Bennett Ranch Field Day is to welcome all students to the herd. There is power in developing relationships within the first month of school between students, teachers, administrators, families and community. Each student has the opportunity to get a “grow with me” field day shirt. This shirt starts with them in kindergarten (or whenever they start at Bennett Ranch) and they get a handprint put on it every year. The big thing this year was that the 5th graders are the first students that could have 6 handprints on it, since the “grow with me” shirts were started the second year Bennett Ranch was open. This allows students to see how they have grown over the years. Also The Bennett Ranch PTA runs a water and rest station so that they can provide information about what PTA does and get time to increase the interest with parents that attend. With a small school community it is important to have participation from families and this year there were more than 180 parents and family members that attended, which is great in a school of 340 students. While all of the parents are encouraged to participate in the different activity stations throughout the day, the big event is the truck pull in the afternoon. This event started with farm tractors and had to move up to heavier vehicles, as the students were able to work together and get the vehicles moving well. The students pull one truck while the parents pull the other (which may have some struggles due to Mr. Wells holding the break). If the class only has a few parents then the 8th graders get to help pull if they are not walking with the classes as safety sweepers. This event provides a great example of how classes act and react to competition and helps them to understand how to be a good winner or loser.

The final reason for the Bennett Ranch Field Day to happen at the beginning of the school year is it provides a chance to have all of the students participate in different activities and skills that are used throughout the year. Ms. Sampsel, the art teacher, has the students create different art pieces that become murals and such for the building. Mrs. Martin, the librarian, working with Mr. Javizian, the music teacher, ran a station that worked on dance patterns and bucket drumming to help the students begin to develop rhythm for instruments. Each of the field day stations provide students to learn how to work together, understand skill challenges, learn to take risks and try new things. All of these are the foundation for the Bennett Ranch Physical Education program.

There is one more reason for the Bennett Ranch Field Day to be at the end of August and that is the Colorado weather. The end of summer usually has better and more consistent weather for outdoor activities and there is less of a chance of being off or rescheduled due to snow, rain or cold. As each year passes at Bennett Ranch Elementary, having the students, teachers, administrators, parents and community be able to come together and participate in Field Day is one of the great ways to see our school community grow!