Sixth and seventh graders at Aiken Middle and Schofield Middle this year will be classmates next year at Schofield when Aiken Middle closes and the new Aiken Intermediate School for sixth graders in Area 1 opens on that campus.
But Wednesday, they were participating in some friendly competitions on the playing field at Schofield, building bonds, making new friends and just having fun playing games and snacking on snow cones on a warm, spring morning.
The Carolina Panthers football team sponsored the special field day as part of its first “Keep Pounding Day” community service initiative to recognize its 25th anniversary, and Panthers staff came to campus and organized tug-of-war competitions, a three-leg race and a grab-the-flag game of tag in addition to bounce houses for the students from the two schools.
The initiative provided the perfect opportunity for students at Schofield Middle and Aiken Middle to get together and get to know each other before the two schools merge starting in the 2019-20 school year.
“Unity. Today is about the unity of two student bodies coming together under one roof or, today, on one field,” said Scott Floyd, the principal of Aiken Middle who will be the new principal at Schofield in the fall. “Come August 19, the first day of school, when those students who were Aiken Middle School Gators come over here and now are Schofield Rams, there is a potential for some division. That's the way it's been for 20 years. The schools are just a mile and a half apart.
Read the full Aiken Standard article HERE.