By Madeline Pulliam, Staff Reporter
Peer Mediation’s Cornucopia is back in person after a virtual 2020.
Traditionally held on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, Cornucopia allows for students to relax and take a break from classes. With games and activities spanning the entire school day, this year’s Peer Mediation members and advisers will use a combination of school locations to provide all students with a multitude of activities that fit their personal interests.
Cornucopia historically took place only in the gyms and included club fundraising as well as sports such as basketball and SpikeBall. Two years ago, the event expanded to include teachers’ classrooms to allow for teachers and clubs to share their hobbies with the student body. This year, the Aerospace Engineering Club will launch a model rocket, and the K-Pop Dance Club will teach students choreography to popular songs and more. Using classrooms also quickens the setup and cleanup of each event because teachers will individually organize their own classroom games.
“(Peer Mediation) recognizes that there’s a lot of students at Conestoga, and they have different likes and they want to do different things,” said Ashley Strouse, Peer Mediation advisor. “I’m hoping students find something they enjoy and they have a great day.”
Although students have the option to participate in activities throughout the school day, certain stations require students to sign up beforehand. For example, students must sign up to watch the Faculty Pyramid, based on the game show “Pyramid,” in the auditorium because it can only seat 400 people.
Additionally, Peer Mediation will extend into new spaces this year, such as outdoor areas and facilities acquired from the renovation project. The atrium will show movies and student films from StogaFilm, and outdoor activities will include corn hole and socializing with peers on the track.
“We’re still going to be following all the (COVID-19) guidelines that have been laid out for us in a normal school day, so I think having the atrium and teachers having bigger spaces in the addition allows us to give students more variety,” Strouse said.
Peer Mediation is planning virtual activities for teachers to share with their students including movies, escape rooms and Kahoots. These events will take place in teachers’ rooms during fifth and sixth periods to make for a smoother transition into lunch periods, according to Adriana Bertolotti, senior and executive director of Peer Mediation.
“(Virtual activities are) easier on our part, especially because we had to figure out how the activities would run when some people were having lunch and some people weren’t,” Bertolotti said.
Junior Zach Rosan is excited for Cornucopia this year because it gives him a chance to relax with friends for a day.
“The day before (Thanksgiving) break, everyone’s tired and there’s not going to be any tests that day hopefully. We’re just going to be able to — maybe not mess around — at the very least we get to hang out and play some games with friends,” Rosan said.
Ultimately, Peer Mediation wants to provide the student body with a stress-free break from classwork through Cornucopia. Senior and Peer Mediaton member Sarah Moyer believes that the event is even more important this year because it is the first year that students have returned from distance learning.
“Everybody’s just absolutely thrilled that we can have (Cornucopia) in person this year. Now that we are all here together and we are able to brainstorm it live — I just think that that’s such a game changer,” Moyer said. “I really think people should start getting hyped up for this because the Peer Mediation team is absolutely going gangbusters.”
Madeline Pulliam can be reached at [email protected].
