Visiting students experience Campion's spirit

Campion Academy hosted 45 students from seventh to eleventh grade in the annual Academy Days open house this past weekend. The visiting students made Campion Academy their home for the weekend, some arriving from Kansas and Nebraska, while others were local to Colorado. 

Students met in the gym Friday morning and participated in several rousing activities such as a basketball scrimmage, a donut-eating contest, and a wrecking-ball bouncy house. 

Jessica Rios, enrollment specialist, planned the weekend event along with the help of the Student Association (SA) leaders. Samuel Walton, SA Spiritual Vice President explained, “Going into the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised when every single event we planned out for the students went above and beyond my expectations. I’m blessed to be a part of SA; it’s events like this where I can show the love I have for my school.”

To show the visiting students our school spirit and to hype up our varsity teams before heading to Union College tournaments, everyone came together for a pep rally in the gym on Friday. The girls and boys varsity teams ran into the gym, breaking through a banner while the crowd cheered. The rally included several musical performances from the jazz band, an inspirational speech from Campion’s Athletic Director Randy Ottschofski, and games hosted by the Student’s Association. 

Jessica Rios expressed that her favorite part was “the pep rally because it really brought us all together. I saw our students really take Academy day kids and include them in those activities. The visitors got to see the camaraderie between students.”

Part of the afternoon was spent touring the campus and competing for academic, athletic and music scholarship opportunities. Following the tour, the visiting students participated in a mini scramble, a Campion tradition, and after dinner the students feasted at an ice cream bar.

The student body concluded the day with vespers in the chapel and an afterglow where they crowded together singing praise songs in the Hankin’s Hall tower. 

An important aspect of Academy Days is the opportunity for visitors to experience dorm life. Sharing their dorm rooms was a great opportunity for current students to connect with Academy Day students. Natalie Bryant, 8th grader at HMS, reflected, “My favorite part of academy days was hanging out in the dorm, I had a lot of fun getting to know new people.” 

Students began their Sabbath with music, an activity, and a worship thought for Sabbath School followed by the main church service. The music department provided all of the music for the service including performances from the Orchestra, Choir, and Koinonia. 

After church, lunch was served and the students communed together on center campus playing friendly games of soccer and volleyball. Several students took the opportunity to go on a Sabbath hike off campus as well.

To close off the Sabbath, Pastor Ortiz gave a short worship and the Academy day students received their scholarships. Victoria Matthews, 8th grader at HMS, received first place in the girls basketball scholarship. She shared, “I felt happy and proud when I won. I also really wanted to thank my family and friends for all of their support!” 

Eva Resz, Student News Team