Midterm Merriment
On Thursday, 24 February, the St David's Marist Inanda campus was overrun with excitement and merriment, before breaking up for midterm. Our students enjoyed a wonderful day of friendly competition with an Inter-House Tug-O-War, supporting community initiatives through the Spray/Shavathon and SANBS Blood Drive, and testing their general knowledge with an Inter-House Quiz.
The annual St David’s Marist Inanda Spray/Shavathon took place, with boys from Mini-Marist to Matric, as well as staff, shaving or (mostly) spraying their hair. This event forms part of the nationwide 19th annual CANSA Shavathon, which aims to show solidarity with those affected by cancer, who often lose their hair as a result of chemotherapy. The Shavathon is used to raise awareness, as well as funds for CANSA, by using donations as a ‘ticket’ to have your hair sprayed or shaved. This year, as a Marist community, we raised just over R20 000!
In addition to this substantial fundraising effort, the students had great fun throughout the day, with brightly coloured heads running around campus, and the Matrics bonding with boys of all ages as they welcomed them into their makeshift barber chairs to give their younger Marist brothers a style they would love. While the majority of our students and staff opted for temporary coloured hair, a group of our community went with the slightly more permanent option of shaving it all off in support of those in our community braving this disease!
In conjunction with the Spray/Shavathon, we were also able to hold a blood drive with the SANBS, and many eligible students and staff rolled up their sleeves and braved the needle to give blood and save lives. As a community, we are extremely lucky to have so many members who are willing to partake in these initiatives. Whether it be donating blood, shaving off your hair, or even just supporting a friend, the willingness to do good for our community amongst our boys is always astounding.
The day was also an opportunity to score some House points, and the boys were extremely excited to engage in some friendly competition, both physical and mental. Between hair spray sessions, our boys flexed their general knowledge muscles in the Inter-House Quiz. The questions were definitely challenging across all grades, but all our boys gave it their best shot and proved that St David's is home to many erudite young scholars. Once all the points had been tallied up, Benedict emerged victorious.
The Inter-House Quiz was not the only competition held, and the other seven houses had a shot at victory with our first ever Inter-House Tug-O-War. Every student had a great amount of fun - including the Prep boys who spent their break cheering on their College brothers. In the end, two Houses walked away in triumph - Selima and Jude. This event is the start of a wonderful new tradition in Inter-House competition - one that was greatly enjoyed by every St David's student. All in all, it was a day filled with laughter, sportsmanship, colour, and merriment - the perfect end to the first half of the first term of 2022, and a wonderful illustration of what it means to be part of the St David's Marist Inanda community!
