Random Acts of Fun
Ranging from boba tea on the quad to giant inflatable bouncy houses, Menlo’s biannual Random Acts of Fun consist of unstructured time and light-hearted social activities for each grade during a student life block. According to Upper School Assistant Director Adam Gelb, the Random Acts of Fun started after the COVID-19 pandemic to promote class bonding. “Coming out of COVID, I think the parent community wanted to partner with the adults on campus to provide events that the students didn’t know about that would be fun,” Gelb said.
The Menlo School Parent Association is responsible for organizing these events for each grade. In previous years, Random Acts of Fun have occurred twice per year, typically once per semester. The class dean partners with the grade-level parent teams to plan the events out.
“[Random Acts of Fun] were started as a surprise event to make students feel loved and happy.” the MSPA’s VP of Parent Resources Julie Herlihy wrote in an email. “The goal is to relieve stress and promote fun. They are usually a combination of fun games/activities along with food/treats and are meant to be simple and inclusive.”
Junior Claire Yao feels that Random Acts of Fun are good class-bonding activities. “I think they’re really fun and they’re a great de-stressor for everyone who is constantly studying,” Yao said.
Spirit Shield
When a student enters the dining hall commons, they might notice a blue and gold shield with the Menlo emblem and two swords in the center encased in glass and hanging on the student center wall. The plaque underneath reads, “only those who demonstrate the ideas of integrity, belonging, creativity and joy will wield the shield.”
Upper School Assistant Director Adam Gelb introduced the Spirit Shield during Spirit Week of the 2023-24 school year. According to Gelb, while he came up with the idea, the Spirit Shield was designed by members of the communications department, including photographer and digital content specialist Kevin Chan. It was then made by Whitaker Lab supervisor Brian Ward. “Then […] the student life team and some of the student leaders from last year really fleshed out the ideas of how we could best introduce it, utilize it and really promote school spirit,” Gelb said
The Spirit Shield was created to tie Spirit Week together to a central theme. “Yes, dress-up days, homecoming days and assemblies are cool,” Gelb said. “But the shield embodies, like all things, competing with your classmates against other classes but also upholding the values of the school and […] cheering on other students that you see lifting up the spirit of fellow classmates.”
While students were able to win their grades points by winning spirit activities last school year, Gelb emphasized the value of sportsmanship above all. “You can earn points for winning spirit activities, but also, more importantly, double the amount of points for things that are tied to things like kindness, civility, respect, good sportsmanship — some things we’re trying to promote,” Gelb said.
