RBHS annual courtwarming assembly, continues despite challenges
Jazz band performing at the courtwarming assembly.
February 28, 2023
One of its two assemblies of the semester, RBHS hosted the annual courtwarming assembly on Friday, Feb. 24 in the RBHS main gym. The event, mandatory for all students, officially began at 3 p.m. and ended just as school was dismissed at 4:05 p.m..
The assembly opened with RBHS jazz band performing a piece, followed by student council officers introducing the 2023 courtwarming court, which includes the top 13 seniors the RBHS student body voted on: seniors Emily Dampier, Maggie Brown, Ian Kemey, Rachel Griffith, Kosh Oduwole, Zachary Wu, Lily Patterson, Salma Alamin, Brooke Bess, Yoell Tewolde, Hudson Summerall, Tierney Baumstark and Allison Schooley.
Despite issues with the microphone system that resulted in the late start of the assembly and a single functioning mic, principal Jacob Sirna took the mic and recognized noteworthy students and student organizations at RBHS. He acknowledged the 10 students accepted into all-state band, the seven students accepted into all-state orchestra and the esports Rocket League team which won the Mo. state competition.
Sophomore Quosiah Lawal, president of both Multicultural Achievement Committee (MAC) Scholars club and multicultural club, led a presentation with two other MAC scholars members on the Sharp End district of Columbia, a historically Black-owned business district in Columbia. MAC Scholars aimed to exemplify Black history in Columbia in honor of Black History Month (BHM), and Sirna said that recognizing prominent individuals and the BHM presentation were his favorite aspects of RBHS assemblies.
“Selfishly, I loved to recognize individuals, [and] I was able to recognize our all-state band, all-state orchestra and the pretty interesting but lesser-known group of students from a state championship in esports,” Sirna said. “The Black History Month presentation — I thought it was incredibly informative and tying it [into] local history and explaining some things to people who weren’t aware of local history is always pretty impactful.”
Additionally, individuals representing winter sports such as boys and girls basketball, cheer, Bruin Girls, girls swim and dive and wrestling recognized their team’s achievements. Bruin Girls and cheer also performed different routines at the assembly, Bruins Girls especially foreshadowing what they were to perform at their coming state and national championships. After the performances, the multicultural club led a procession of members showcasing their diverse cultures through traditional clothing. Lawal promoted the coming week’s 30th annual Global Village celebration but noted some improvable aspects of the event’s share of the assembly.
“Regarding the Global Village dance, I believe that one way the awkward pauses or moments could be improved was by making sure everyone knew their role and their dependability so they wouldn’t cancel at the last minute,” Lawal said. “Several of the students were too afraid to dance, which is understandable.”
Teachers nominated by students for positively impacting their lives came onto the gym floor to dance with the multicultural club members, but Sirna said that when called on to dance, he was confused on what to do.
“I didn’t know I was going to be asked to go out in the middle of the gym and dance, [which] is not a problem, it was okay, but I was shocked and surprised,” Sirna said.
Subsequently, Griffith won courtwarming queen and received a commemorative crown and bouquet of flowers to celebrate her win. The assembly closed off with a “trek race” between students from each grade level, which consisted of students racing on tricycles around the gym. Senior Pedro Kfuri, student council class representative and Equity Coalition chair, was involved in planning and executing the courtwarming assembly and said despite the technological issues, the assembly successfully ran on time, engaged the student population and, overall, surpassed his expectations.
“The mission of our school is to provide education for all, regardless of any identifying factors, both external and internal,” Kfuri said. “The courtwarming assembly contributes to that, as I believe it highlights diversity and celebrates differences and successes in our student body, as well as provides an opportunity to have fun, which I think is what [RBHS] is all about: we might look different, but we share similar experiences and come together in the end to accomplish our goals, and most importantly, have fun doing it.”
How was the courtwarming assembly? Let us know in the comments below.
