Did anyone else have strange customs / practices that only the kids in your school did?
I can think of two from my school days.
First, in the elementary school that I attended for gym class, we sometimes played with a very large parachute. I have no idea why we did this, but all of the students would form a large circle around the parachute that took up most of the gym floor. Then we would grasp it with our hands, lift the parachute over our heads, and then when the teacher told us to, we would all run into the center. The parachute would then cause a strong up draft over our head and I remember it was strong enough to make the girls’ hair stand straight up. Again, I have no idea why we did this but I sure remember it being a lot of fun.
Fast forward to my high school gym class. I always signed up for weight training and Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were always our heavy lifting days. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we would go outside and run if the weather permitted, or if we stayed inside, we would sometimes run steps or do light lifting. Occasionally though, we would play “mat ball.”
On these days, all of the equipment was put aside and wrestling mats were placed on the floor. The class was divided into two teams and everyone on each team was assigned a number. The teacher then stood in the center of the classroom, and rolled a ball down to the opposite side of the room. He then would bark out several numbers, say, “Three, Six, Ten, and Eleven!” The students from each team who had those numbers then would “run” out on their hands and knees and try to get the ball and then place it in front of the designated goal area which was the spot in front of the teacher’s feet. As you were trying to retrieve the ball, students on the other team who had those same numbers would wrestle you down and physically try to remove the ball from who ever had it. Naturally, you could pass the ball to another teammate, also if you could drag an opponent to your teammates on the side line, they were permitted to hold that kid down, prevent him from entering the playing field and give him a mild thrashing as well. At times, the teacher would call out all of the odd numbers in which case a wild battle royal / melee ensued.
Some of my classmates despised this game but I always found it to be somewhat fun.
Anyone else have odd customs that may have been unique to your school?