Three students from the De Soto Scholars’ Bowl team volunteered at Starside Elementary on April 6 to have two hours of fun with young students who were interested in trying out new activities. Dubbed as the “Family Feud” team for the night, senior Simon Couch and juniors Elizabeth Seidl and Cody Moose helped run the event.

“The team was invited to help out with a family fun night that Starside was hosting,” Couch said. “We put some questions together that are similar to what we hear in actual Scholars’ Bowl rounds but made them more age appropriate.”

Couch believed that the event was a success and that everyone had a great time participating.

“The kids’ reactions to playing were easily the best part of the night. All of them totally bought into it from the get-go and seemed to be having a blast,” Couch said. “I’m really glad that I got to experience it. The energy and enthusiasm that kids carry with them is always uplifting.”

Starside principal Kris Meyer organized the event and explained the reasons for having the family fun night and listed some of the other events the school had, aside from the Family Feud-Scholars’ Bowl event.

“We have the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People [by Stephen Covey], but it’s the Seven Habits of Happy Kids, so we use that as our core values,” Meyer said. “Tonight, we were Sharpening  our Saw: Mind, Body and Soul, engaging all three in different activities. So we have a lot of STEM activities, lots of hands-on [events], lots of using your body [activities], yoga, Kid Fit, Zumba, flying some drones, and coding and our Family Feud, which was hosted by our Scholars’ Bowl team.”

Meyer explained what gave the school the idea to host the events.

“I would say other schools have given us the idea,” Meyer said. “The actual activities were our own ideas that we blended [in]. But the Sharpen the Saw: Mind, Body and Soul, engaging in all the different arts, that was not an original [idea from us].”

According to Meyer, the night was considered a success.

“We’ve had so much positive parent feedback. Kids are not trying to just rush back home and get out of the door. They stayed as late as possible,” Meyer said. “We’ve had a lot of thank yous and the activities were more hands-on than they usually are, so the kids loved it.”

Couch thinks that nights like these are productive and positive for students.

“If these types of events are half as enjoyable and constructive for the kids as they are for us, I think they should happen as often as possible [in schools],” Couch said.