Starting the School Year Off Right
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Brothers Grady Dunlea and Connor Dunlea scramble for colorful plastic balls during the Hungry Hippo game at Lost River’s Raider Camp.
Lost River Junior Senior High School eighth-grader Logan Derry hands his team’s raw egg in its enclosure to Colton Wright, a member of the Lost River student leadership team. Wright dropped the egg from the top of the ladder to see if it would crack. It didn’t.
More than 6,400 Klamath County School District students were back in class Tuesday
LOST RIVER – Eighth-grader Logan Derry handed Colton Wright his team’s raw egg snugly surrounded by a scrunched up plastic bag and cardboard.
“Drop it just like this,” he instructed.
Wright, a sophomore and student leadership member at Lost River Junior-Senior High School, did as he was told. When his student leadership classmate MaKenzie Girtman unwrapped the dropped egg, the gathering of Lost River seventh- and eighth graders cheered.
It hadn’t cracked.
Lost River high school student leaders led about 70 seventh- and eighth-graders through Raider Camp Tuesday, the first day of school for more than 6,400 students in the Klamath County School District. Across the district, students met their teachers and settled into classrooms.
At Henley Elementary School, kindergartners attended in small groups – each student attends one day this week – so they can learn the routines. At Ferguson Elementary, students greeted Principal Kelley Fritz as they entered the building, some posing for pictures for their parents. Peterson Elementary School fifth- and sixth-graders settled into their new classroom building. At the high schools, freshmen had a chance to learn their new buildings with the help of upperclassmen.
The purpose of Lost River’s Raider Camp, which started about 10 years ago, is to acclimate junior high students to the school. Eighth-graders attended to help the seventh-graders adjust. The day included games and activities such as the egg drop challenge, marshmallow towers and fast-paced games in the gymnasium. Students also got their lockers and schedules.
Students board a school bus heading to Shasta Elementary School. Daryl
Students – all wearing Lost River Raider T-shirts – appeared to embrace the day, competing against each other in goofy, fast-paced games. In a game dubbed “Hungry Hippo,” one student is prone on a wheeled board. A second student pushes them by their feet while the prone student uses a plastic container to capture and scoop up colorful balls.
The day also helped students from two elementary schools – Merrill and Malin – bond as Lost River classmates.
“Merrill and Malin are rivals of sorts because of youth sports and activities,” said Jen Johnson, student leadership advisor and media specialist. “But now they’re all here and they’re together and we like to build on that.”
Press release provided from the Klamath County School District.