Pasco News
Gulf Middle eats up book-inspired competition
By Daylina Miller | Suncoast News
Published: December 28, 2012
NEW PORT RICHEY - Gulf Middle School students spent their final school day before winter break playing tug of war, throwing pool noodle spears and answering trivia questions in a "Hunger Games" style competition in their gymnasium.Published: December 28, 2012
The competition was inspired by the popular young-adult book series and the global mega-hit movie the books inspired.
The trilogy takes place in the fictional country of Panem, whose nation's districts have to compete yearly in the Hunger Games to earn rations to feed their citizens.
In the book, names for the tributes, or competitors, are drawn at the reaping.
At Gulf Middle, students from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades earned their tributes by donating canned goods for the ABC Food Drive.
About 600 items, which filled 62 food baskets, were given to needy families for Thanksgiving along with a gift card purchased by the ABC committee for the families to buy a turkey.
The countywide ABC Program creates committees at each school.
Gulf Middle Principal Stanley Trapp describes it as a "school-based version of United Way" that provides things for needy families in the school community.
"As a school, we do a holiday celebration on the last day of school to raise school spirit and reinforce that school can be a fun place to be," said Marilyn Shafer, the middle school's media specialist.
Michele Wolf, the school registrar, and Karyn McGuire, the school's social worker, helped devise the games in a way that was fun and safe, considering that in the books and movie, the games are fought to the death.
Jennifer Neumann, a sixth-grade language arts teacher, played the role of Ellie Trinket, the escort who draws names at the reaping and escorts tributes to the capitol, complete with wig and accent to add a tinge of humor and to keep the competition light-hearted.
The games began with 56 tributes and were paired down to the final five.
A sixth-grader from the Imagineers Team won the Hunger Games, earning 120 students free cookies in January when classes resume.
His team came in second overall in collecting the most food items and earned themselves 10 tributes for the competition.
The entire school, buzzing with excitement, piled into the gymnasium to cheer on fellow students as they competed. Brittany Rutherford, 13, watched from the sidelines as she waited for her turn to participate.
The tribute token dangling from her neck showed her love of the book series. She's read the first two and is working her way through the third. Brittany said she was worried about the Hunger Games because she didn't know until the last minute what the contests would be.
"I didn't know what kind of skills I'd need," Brittany said.