Midwinter Madness (MWM), the Upper School's annual fundraising effort, kicked off yesterday! The theme of this year's festival of funds and fun is "Candyland" and the MWM Committee went all out to create a . . . well . . . sweet experience for the US community.

The Aardvark editors got this excellent on-site report from Grace W. '19:

"First there was a video made by a freshman on the committee that highlighted 'How To Get Hyped for Midwinter Madness." The presenters from the beneficiary, Early Childhood Education in Liberia, talked about the current school situation in that country and how their backgrounds tied to the work they will be doing. They told us about their school-- and even told us they would like to name a part of the school after us!

The theme of Midwinter Madness this year is Candyland, and over the next two weeks there will be a game board in the Great Hall with pictures of each grade's characters. These characters can be moved by students from the respective grades, showing their involvement in MWM.

As a result, next at the assembly we had a series of events that could move classes forward on the game board, and they went as follows:

1. 3-Legged Race. The winners were Andrew C. and David L. of the class of 2019 (pictured above) who earned a point for their grade.
2. Guess the Candy. Contestants were blindfolded and fed candy, and if they guessed correctly, they earned a point for their grade. The winners were the seniors Belle S. and Jake C. of the class of 2017.
3. Dodgeball. Our two dodgeball teams were the Sophomores and Juniors vs. Freshmen and Seniors. The winners were Alex S. and Alma N. of the class of 2019, and Elliott N. and Jack S. of the class of 2018.
4. Lipsync Battle. Each grade had two representatives who had to lipsync and dance to 60 seconds of a song of their choice. The winners were Emma F. and Lexy T. of the class of 2017, who danced to "Teach Me How To Dougie."
5. Hula Hoop Contest. Contestants had to hula hoop for as long as possible. . .and the winner was Florence G. of the class of 2018.

When tallied, the seniors moved forward the farthest, followed closely by the sophomores."

Keep your eyes open for a lot more MWM news in the coming weeks!

Photo and article credit: Grace W. '19