Fear is no
factor for Marian students:
From frog legs to
crickets, students conquer queasy stomachs
Laura Hahn
A thunderous roar of
laughter and cheers echoes through the gym as the emcees and heads of the Fun
Rally Ms. Kathy Janata and Mr. Tom Baker jump around and shout their Fun Rally
cheer. The cheerleaders were a spin-off
of the Saturday Night Live Spartan Cheerleaders.
I love Saturday Night Live, and I thought it would be
kind of fun [to be a Spartan cheerleader]," said Janata. Dressed in orange and with Janata's high
school cheerleading experience, Baker and Janata were able to get the Fun Rally
off to a great start.
The stunts, based off the
popular NBC television show Fear Factor, began with a student from each
grade plunging their faces into cold oatmeal to dig for gummy worms, while
their classmates cheered them on.
" I thought it was really funny because it wasn't me, " said
freshman Mandy Anderson.
The Marian High School Faculty Drill Team also performed
at the event. The dance helped to break
up the competition and provide some fun entertainment for the students and
faculty
Sophomore Anne Boyle thought
the Fear Factor portion of the Fun Rally was "gross," but she would
like to see something like this done again.
Participants did not know
what they got themselves into when they signed up for Fear Factor. They were asked to eat things from fried
frog legs to anchovies buried in sauerkraut.
Sophomore MVP Sereene Talkington said she volunteered for the event
because, " I'm just a random, crazy kind of person, and I'll do
anything. I'll take one for the
team." The MVPs of Fear Factor
were chosen by the juniors who helped with the Fun Rally based on their performance
during the event
The preparation for the Fun
Rally began before Christmas break when Baker thought everyone needed a little
fun. "I just wanted the kids to have 
some fun and get excited for something," said
Baker. The Fun Rally then evolved into
ideas taken from the television show Fear Factor.
The Fun Rally lasted a
little over an hour with Surprise Day following the event. When Baker decided to pursue the Fun Rally
Ms. Susie Sisson, student board moderator, thought it would be a good start to
Surprise Day. Sisson, Baker, Janata and
head of school, Ms. Elizabeth Kish all coordinated and decided the Fun Rally
and Surprise Day would be held on Jan. 9.
About $100 was spent buying
the pork rinds, live crickets and other products used during the Fun
Rally. Everyone who participated in an
event was able to choose a prize of either a lip-balm key chain, a robot dog
key chain or a note pad key chain. All
of these prizes cost about $40. The
$140 used to make the Fun Rally come to life was taken from the Directors Club,
which was started and is headed by Baker.
From cold oatmeal and gummy
worms to a giant jump rope contest, the Fun Rally helped to raise the spirits
and brighten the days of both the students and the faculty.