Middle school plays reindeer games

    Murphy - The middle school’s gym was full of music and laughter on Dec. 18 for its annual Reindeer Games, where homerooms compete against each other in games like Winter Dodgeball, Blindfold Musical Packages, Antler Toss and Take Me on a Sleigh Ride.
    This is the fourth year for the games, which Murphy Middle School Principal Tiffany Clapsaddle said was started to give kids and teachers a fun activity anybody can do.
    “Sometimes, you just got to have fun,” she said.
    Emma Ortega, an eighth-grade student, said the event gets better every year.
    “It’s pretty fun,” she said. “We all get a chance to work together, and we all enjoy it.”
    Her favorite game was Blindfold Musical Packages. Students dance with blindfolds on, but when the music stops, they must get on their hands and knees and search for a package on the floor. Those who do not find a package after all the packages are found are out of the game, similar to Musical Chairs.
    Eighth-grader Lyden Raxter’s favorite game was Take Me on a Sleigh Ride, in which team members drag each other on sheets in a relay.
    “It’s just fun racing people,” he said.
    Teacher Sandra Smith said it gives the kids an opportunity to work as a team, especially with those they may not otherwise. She also liked that it gave her students a chance to “blow off steam.”
    “It gives them time to relax, and they don’t have to think about school work,” Smith said.

Kindness brings gifts to
Big Brothers Big Sisters
    Murphy – Children gathered at the tree in the foyer of the elementary school, anxiously waiting for Gloria Dockery, coordinator of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cherokee County, to hand them gifts from Klaus, the character from the new Netflix movie of the same name.
    After opening his set of outdoor toys, Jason, a third grade student, asked the second-grade boy next to him if he wanted any of the toys. That boy, Christipher, got a building set for his gift, and was excited to use both the building set and Frisbees he was given by Jason with his Big.
    Another child, Kali, gave away the jump ropes she got in her outdoor toys set to two other girls.
    “I’m being kind,” she said. “It’s time for Christmas to come, and I already have a jump rope at home.”
    Netflix committed $100,000 for gifts to 6,000 elementary-age Littles in the program throughout the country. Each Little was asked to write a letter to Klaus with thoughts about kindness.
    In Cherokee County, 66 children throughout the county participated and received gifts throughout
the last week of school. Each gift was valued from $15-20.
    “It’s fulfilling, it touches your heart,” Dockery said after witnessing the children use kindness as they received gifts.
    Dockery said the world and community are trying hard to embrace kindness. She was happy to see Netflix and the movie teaching, and encouraging, kindness in children.
    “It’s awesome,” she added. “If we can do that, we’ve accomplished something.”
    Samantha Sinclair is the Scouting Around columnist for the Cherokee Scout. You can reach her by phone, 837-5122, Ext. 24; or email, scoutingaround@cherokeescout.com.