As a boarding school we are concerned with much more than
merely the academic success of our students.
As well as providing a positive dorm environment, and tending to the
spiritual life of our students, we also want them to enjoy themselves. To that end we as a staff are concerned with
what we call student life.
This encompasses a wide variety of activities, some
structured and some not so structured.
Weekends are a time when students have free time during the day to
relax, catch up with friends, and generally goof off (although they may need to
do some homework in there as well.)
We have a number of activities designed to bring the class
together. Each grade, 7-12, has a group
of staff members called sponsors who help students to plan activities. Beginning in 9th grade, classes
begin specific fund raising activities to enable them to go on a senior
trip. Freshman handle concessions during
movies, Sophomores sell Valentines and put on a restaurant for staff and
students, Seniors sell concessions at the major tournaments and Titchie Field
Days. Juniors are the exception to fund
raising, as they spend most of their year planning a banquet in honor of the
seniors. They build sets, and plan
entertainment and a meal for the seniors and their sponsors. It takes the place of a high school prom.
Each term the classes have a class party. This is a meal and evening's activity planned
by the students and their sponsors.
Another way that staff get involved in the lives of students
is through Caring Community. One evening
a month, students meet in small groups in staff members homes. These groups are assigned at the beginning of
the year and remain the same for the entire year. Hopefully the students get a chance to know
some staff members better, and the staff members are better able to pray for a
select group of students. Activities on
these nights vary from the quieter board game varieties, to larger more noisy
outdoor games on the field or in the gym.
Weekend activities are varied in order to keep the kids
entertained. In any given term,
students will watch a few movies, have class activities, go to Caring
Community, have dorm nights and variety nights.
Dorm nights are events planned by and for the dorms to have a chance to
enjoy time with the people they live with.
Variety nights are what they sound like, a night where students are given a variety of options to choose
from. There is usually a classic movie,
a large game on the field, some kind of tournament (dodge ball, volley ball,
badminton, indoor soccer) in the gym, a venue for board games of all types, an
anime (Japanese animation) option, and maybe a few smaller specialty venues to
choose from.
RVA has several clubs, some official, and others a little
more spontaneous. Chess club began small
with a few kids playing chess on weekends, but has expanded greatly. Now there is "chess in the park" during lunch
several days a week where kids gather to play and watch. Several students have had the opportunity to
join in tournaments in Nairobi
and a few have even gotten to play at larger tournaments further afield. Another club that began small and has grown
is Anime club. Anime is the Japanese
word for animation, so anime club watches cartoons that were made in Japan. These cartoons have been dubbed into English
so the kids can watch and enjoy them.
They raise many discussions of worldview and perspective which gives the
staff member running the club a chance to have some good talks with students.
Titchie Swot has its own activities on weekends, usually
choosing to only have one activity per weekend so that kids can also spend time
with their dorm parents. The highlight
for Titchie Swot is Titchie Field Day, held on the third or fourth weekend of
term. It is a morning given over to the
kids enjoying various activities.
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