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MOUNTAIN TOP — Just before the eighth grade faced off against the faculty at St. Jude Elementary School, 14-year-old Emily “Tall Tales” Mahler explained why she and her classmates were likely to win a fast and furious version of volleyball called Nukem.
“We’re more athletic,” she said, offering a sympathetic smile toward those poor ol’ teachers. “And we’ve been together for nine years, so we really know each other.”
The eighth-graders were suited up Wednesday in matching T-shirts that proclaimed them to be the Class of ‘17, United — with nicknames such as “Cap’n Crunch,” “Lil Wills” and “The Stain” spelled out on the back — and several had decorated their faces with eye black.
“It’s a symbol of our team spirit,” Sarah “Crusher” Stettler said of the black stripes.
“It helps us get riled up,” Mahler added.
On the faculty side, principal Sister Ellen Fischer sported a green sweat shirt over her habit and led the charge in her skirt and veil.
“She’s been a basketball official for years,” kindergarten teacher Linda Brittain pointed out.
Joining Sister Ellen’s effort to uphold the honor of the older generation were several teachers, substitutes, a maintenance worker, and a parent or two.
Eighth-grader Anthony Strish knew his mom was playing for the faculty team, yet threw himself into cheering for “my side,” the kids’ side, sometimes stretching his whole body flat on the gym floor from the pure emotion of it all.
Cheering from about 200 younger students in the bleachers was thunderous, but it wasn’t always easy to tell for whom they were rooting.
“Fourth and fifth grade are rooting for the teachers,” one girl suggested, “because there won’t be any homework if the teachers win.”
But what hope did those poor, aging teachers have?
“It gets harder every year because the kids stay the same age (always in eighth-grade) and the teachers get older,” Brittain said.
“They’re holding up pretty good,” 14-year-old Zachary Kehoe said as he took a break mid-way through the hour-long game.
The faculty-versus-eighth-grade game has been a long-standing tradition, 14-year-old Anna “The Last One” Capaci said. Her nickname referred to her position as the youngest of five Capaci siblings to attend St. Jude’s, and she knows her oldest brother, now 26, also played in a similar game as an eighth grader.
The eighth grade is looking forward to lots of fun this year, Mahler said, including a field trip to New York City to see a Broadway show and to tour the Freedom Tower.
It’s a great place to go to school, 13-year-old Raymond Sabatini said, noting he transferred to St. Jude as a fifth grader.
“Everybody was so welcoming,” he said.
Suddenly the Nukem game was over and, while it had been difficult for the casual bystander to keep score, gym teacher Ann Levandoski explained the eighth grade won the first round, the teachers won the second, and the teachers prevailed in the tie-breaker, 16-14.
“Good game!” the gym teacher said as all the players, faculty and eighth grade, tapped each other’s hands as a sign of congratulations.
