Hammarskjold Picks Up the Baton (Video)

Hammarskjold students and staff have picked  up the torch and hope to keep running with it for some time.

Well, they hope that someone will keep running with it.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the school held the seventh-grade track meet for first time in a long time, and with students heading to the East Brunswick High School to sprint, jump and throw, the two days could not have been a bigger success.

“It started in the early 1990s and held consecutively until 2006, when they started construction on the new Hammarskjold and there was no outside physical education,” said physical education teacher Leslie Gaertner.

But now with a completed middle school, a field for outdoor practice, and willing students, the field day tradition has started once again.

“It was a tradition, kind of like Fairview,” said Gaertner. “You just kind of heard about it, or in school you’d see the seventh-graders go and the sixth graders would say ‘I’m going to do it next year.’ But these kids had no frame of reference, but as we talked about it I could feel the enthusiasm building.

The two day event included two competitions in one, a head-to-head competition between students, and competitions between the Hammarskjöld houses. Events included a ball throw, standing long jump, 50 and 100 yard dashes and a four person relay, with each student running 100 yards. Students practiced at Hammarskold and took the competition to the high school during the first truly warm days of the year.

“The kids were great. All the houses were assigned a color and the kids were encouraged to wear house colors for the day,” said Gaertner. “They were awesome. Some did face painting and put color in their hair. A lot of the girls created their own T-shirt designs, so they really got in the spirit of the day.”

Check back later this week for more coverage.