RUMPUS is a weekend long house competition designed to build relationships with other people in the house, build teamwork, to give students a break from academics and to overall have fun. The weekend consists of houses competing in a variety of competitions, such as; Relay, Minute to Win It, Dodgeball, Trivia(Upstairs and Downstairs), Gauntlet, Fear-Factor and last but not least Lip Sync. Every house is allowed one faculty per competition and an even amount of day and dorm students.
Relay is the very first event of RUMPUS weekend, and every house wants to make a statement early. Thornwood is hoping to make a statement, and that is the reason Head Day Prefect Ava Ann Woods picked Ivey Dunn for RUMPUS relay. She is the captain of the girls swim team and was on the middle school track team, which not only shows her leadership but that she does not let her adolescence hold her back from being a leader. Thornwood hopes to capitalize on a fifth place finish last year, with Ivey leading the way.
Dodgeball is probably the most hyped event of RUMPUS Weekend because each dorm is teamed with their brother/sister house, and… it’s dodgeball! This year Mr. Wade will compete on the Summerbell/Cooper dodgeball team. He was a force to be reckoned with on the Neville/Thornwood team last year. Summerbell Day Leader Hayes Parsa quickly picked Mr. Wade for the dodgeball team this year, with him being the favorite for the faculty spot. With this being his second year competing, he will be bringing some leadership to the table for this SMB/CPR team, hopefully pushing them to back-to-back dodgeball wins.
This year Trivia was branched in to two separate events, Upstairs and Downstairs. Upstairs Trivia is mainly SAT/ACT questions, while Downstairs is more general knowledge, geography and pop culture. Mily James will be the star player on Cooper’s upstairs trivia team. She is a very smart and out going person, being President of the Fine Arts Council. She put together all of the Discover Day festivities, showing she can lead a team. Also, she is at the top of her class academically, making her a perfect fit for the SAT/ACT format this year. Her leadership and intelligence could help Cooper comeback from a third place finish last year.
Reese Bell is going to be a key player in Regester House’s downstairs trivia team on Saturday morning.
“She is very smart, so she can cover geography and knowledge questions as well.” Regester Head Day Prefect Sophie Piller said.
She participates in the school band, and works in the sound booth for the Drama department.
“She has really good knowledge of pop culture and music as well.” Piller said.
The downstairs trivia game is more general knowledge rather than the upstairs trivia game that is more SAT/ACT based. Bell is a very good teammate and leader, which could help lead Regester to a Downstairs trivia win.
Gauntlet is the fitness event of RUMPUS. Known for its grueling tasks in cold weather, it would not be a RUMPUS Weekend without it. It is divided into two parts: Strength and Endurance. With Cooper having Coach Reddish on their team, I think this gives Cooper a chance to have back-to-back Gauntlet wins. Coach Reddish is a Strength and Conditioning coach and played college football at Shorter University from 2018-2021. He had 109 tackles in his career at Shorter, playing strong safety. He also does MMA fighting on the side when he is not coaching. He is a very good leader and always encourages his athletes in the weightroom, which I think could give Cooper an edge to beat Thornwood and Regester.
Fear Factor is a competition where students and faculty are given weird food combinations, and whoever eats them the fastest wins. Wyatt Wood, a junior from Moser House, is about to take on his third Fear Factor challenge. His experience eating odd food combinations will be crucial to Moser’s Fear Factor team Saturday afternoon. He was instrumental in Moser’s relay win last year where he chugged a half-gallon of tea, and also their second place finish in Fear Factor.
Lip Sync, which brings the entire dorm together, is unlike the other events. It takes practice, dedication, and lots of hard work from everyone, especially the leaders. Lip Sync caps off RUMPUS Weekend with a bang. Neville House has a big advantage in the Lip Sync event. Not only do they have Nicky Lawrence, who is very creative and has helped put together solid routine is the past, They also have Mrs. Smyly. She is the Competition Cheer coach and choreographs their competition routine. The team has competed in the state competition the past two years. Mrs. Smyly helps the Neville leaders choreograph the Neville lip sync dance. Her school spirit and enthusiasm towards RUMPUS is a huge advantage to Neville House overall, not just Lip Sync.