Sealed inside an envelope. Drawn randomly from the board on stage. The character houses cheer, waiting to welcome the newcomers. Sweaty palms meet open arms. One question lingers: will the scholars get the legacy they want?
Being a part of a character house is a tradition that both middle and high school have, with each having four houses based on traits like Social Intelligence and Grit. Middle school has Zest, Social intelligence, Curiosity, and Self Control, while high school gets sorted into Gratitude, Grit, Optimism, and Interpersonal Savvy.
Every house is a little different from the rest, possessing distinct traits that make scholars want to be in that specific house. Before being sorted into his house, ninth-grader Xavier Degracia said he hoped he would draw Optimism.
“They seem like the most enthusiastic about their character house,” Degracia said. “I don’t see many other character houses just jumping for joy, quite literally, in their name.”
For some scholars, the decision isn’t left to chance. Those who have family in a house can choose Legacy, which puts them in the same house as their siblings or parents.
Ninth-grader Charlee Stepan said she chose this path to be with her sister Avery.
“I like the color blue, and my sister’s in there and Maya’s in there,” Stepan said.
Some elect to give up their legacy to carve out their own. Nick Dottore decided to leave it up to fate instead of choosing his sister Gigi’s house, Grit.
“I’m not choosing legacy because I want to compete against my sister,” Nick said.
House members were hoping for certain upcoming high school scholars to get in their character houses because of the energy they bring to the table. Interpersonal Savvy’s Jesse Schilling said he wanted prospect Mikey Ardolina to join him as a fox.
“I think I want Mikey Ardalina to join Interpersonal Savvy,” Schilling said. “I don’t know he’s just, he just seems like that kind of person.”
Optimism member Andrew Sayavan said he wanted Nick to join him before the induction.
“We could use his energy,” Sayavan said. “That’d be really nice.”
A week after the houses gained new members, they competed in their first competitions of the year: a variety of Minute to Win It games. Curiosity leader Coach J.R. Brown said he intently prepared for the challenges.
“A lot of hard work, dedication [and] good night’s sleep,” Coach J.R. said. “After a big breakfast, I’m sure maybe some bacon and eggs, and a glass of OJ.”
Coach J.R. said he was excited to see his house win three out of the four events.
Behind the competitions is the Character House Committee, where staff pitch ideas for challenges throughout the year. New staff member Coach Herold Lewis said he has enjoyed helping make the events better.
“I’m part of the character House committee, so I do a lot of the planning, the behind the scenes work to put on the Character House events and games,” Coach Herold said. “I’m always thinking about Character House throughout the week and how we can make it better, and how we can get the scholars to interact with one another.”
