It makes our hearts beat harder, it raises students’ endorphins, it only takes place during one time of the school year. It is March Madness.

Seniors always seem to dominate each and every year. Juniors try to steal the gold, but don’t succeed. Sophomores have no chance of winning. Freshmen have no clue what to expect.

For several years, March Madness has been the reason to keep going to school after February vacation. Recently, events have ranged from mundane activities to exhilarating and heart pumping events.

Each year Mr. Kevin Redman organizes the faculty scavenger hunt, where students rush around the school trying to match teachers to biographical facts. This year’s freshmen never even started the scavenger hunt, juniors finished third, sophomores second, and seniors completed the hunt first.

Faculty and staff conjure up new events every year to keep things exciting and new. Events are not revealed until the actual week of March Madness, where classes may or may not be interrupted for events.

On Monday, the students engaged in a competition of unscrambling words, memorizing the periodic table, and an intense game of modified leap frog. By the end of the school day, both juniors and sophomores were tied in first place, seniors placed second, and freshmen were in last place.

Students played a game of “Piggyback Duck Cowboy” on Tuesday. The senior class competed against the sophomores and the juniors against the freshmen. The game comprised of five pairs of “ducks,” or arm linked students, one girl and boy per pair, sitting on a yoga ball while being “protected” by several surrounding “cowboys.” While trying to block dodgeballs, the “piggybacks” targeted and whipped the balls at the “ducks.”

On Wednesday, students were called to the gym during last period to play “Paper Towel Olympics.” Nudging a paper towel roll with their noses, students had to make it half way down the court and then wrap peers like paper towel mummies. Those “mummies” had to unwrap themselves, dunk the wad of towels into the hoop and kick a yoga ball into a net. For the event, last place went to the freshmen, then juniors and seniors next, and in first were the sophomores. By the end of the day the freshmen placed last in March Madness, with juniors in third, and seniors second and sophomores first.

Thursday morning, classes competed in a blindfolded relay race, where students had to dribble a soccer ball around obstacles down the court, followed by wheel-barreling back to the start, all while blindfolded. Then there was a blindfolded piggyback, in which the audience deemed quite scary. A pair of students, one blindfolded, was to successfully make a Q-tip hockey goal. The morning event ended in making a blindfolded basket.

Before the “Donkey Dodgeball” during last period, students were called to homeroom to listen to Frank Sinatra wannabes from each grade sing their hearts out over the intercom. Later, in homeroom students were subjected to Mr. Salmon’s dance moves while watching each grade’s John Travolta lip sync video. A game of dangerous “Donkey Dodgeball” ended in several wipe outs Thursday afternoon. Grades were paired off to compete against one another. Students from one grade began in the center of the court, huddled in a circle while several “donkeys” positioned themselves with a yoga ball. At the whistle those “donkeys” attempted to kick and hit the running targets.

Due to a snowstorm and unexpected early release day on Friday, the final events were rescheduled to Monday, March 19 from 7-9 P.M. However, events were cancelled due to lack of participation.