Pickleball racquets clang against the floor as neon green pickleballs bounce across the court. With a mix of 8th graders and juniors on each team, spectators can barely hear over the shouts of defeat and triumph.

In order to truly get to know each other, the class of 2024 and class of 2027 got together to play some friendly matches of pickleball. The overall goal of the event was to let next year’s seniors and freshmen form friendships to avoid the awkward situation of having classes with upper or lowerclassmen you don’t know.

On Friday, September 2, Barstow’s 11th-grade and 8th-grade classes met bright and early at 8:30 AM at Barstow. They prepared themselves for the exciting adventure of Chicken N Pickle, a casual restaurant featuring pickleball courts, cornhole, foosball, bocce ball, and other games. They piled into three buses, and began the 15-minute journey to the Chicken N Pickle at 135th and Nall in the Prairiefire shopping complex. 

As outlandish as grade bonding over pickleball seems, the mix of community building, healthy competition, and simply missing school, made the outing fun for everyone in attendance. Both grades benefited greatly from it, and many students enjoyed getting to know each other. 

Junior Phoebe Martin enjoyed the event, saying, “I enjoyed the trip and had fun bonding with the 8th graders and my other classmates in the junior class. I think the trip overall was a success because it gave everyone a chance outside of school to have fun and get to know everyone better.”

Upon arrival, the students were led inside by teachers, passing by the eatery’s many outdoor pickleball courts as well as other fun lawn activities. Once the rules were established, the students were separated into groups and began the fun. 

There were 22 groups of students altogether, each containing 4-6 students from both 8th and 11th grade. The first 12 groups played pickleball first, in the indoor courts. There were six courts available to play on, each overseen by a different teacher. 

The groups played each other, although they did not play every other team. It was more of a luck-of-the-draw type deal, where you get stuck against one team the whole time. Dr. Ketchell, Mr. Guldin, Mr. Gaffney, Ms. Garrels, Ms. Ganter, Ms. Culver, Dr. Gallagher, and Ms. Quintanilla all supervised courts. Other Barstow faculty attended the event as well, including the new student dean Mr. Muhummad, who roamed around to make sure everyone was having maximum fun. Coach White, who supervised the other outdoor activities, and the admissions teams, who focused on building community.

Junior Alexandra Huynh thoroughly enjoyed this first round, saying, “It was fun meeting the 8th graders. The ones on my team were really quiet, but they were nice and everyone got to play in rotation.”

In the meantime, the other 10 groups got to know each other through indoor and outdoor activities, food, and conversation. After swarming the breakfast burritos, groups set out to participate in different team bonding activities. Several played cornhole (or just threw bean bags at the plank of wood without knowing the rules), while others played jenga, connect-four, foosball, or just talked to each other. 

At 10:00 AM, the two groups switched activities. This second round got quite competitive, with teams swapping people, courts, and even teams! Some courts played 4 v 4 rather than traditional doubles, and some even had people play for the other team. Many courts mixed 8th and 11th graders, while others played the 11th graders vs 8th graders. 

Not only were the bright green pickleballs flying everywhere, but so were the racquets (for those who struggled to keep ahold of them). Some Chicken N Pickle employees even joined in on the fun, each playing with a Barstow student. 

Meanwhile, the other group of students ate the delicious burritos and played other fun games. Alexandra Huynh (‘24) enjoyed the event, saying, “I really liked the shuffleboard game that they had indoors. We had to pick up sand from the sides of the board and put it around the disks.”

The competitive pickleball games came to an end at 10:30 AM when all students assembled in the main building to have a few final minutes of fun. The teachers took a photo of all the students to commemorate the event and then gave the students a few minutes of free time to play games or just talk to each other. Huynh was even able to do homework during this time and said, “At the end, I even got time to rehearse for my 7th-hour presentation.” 

At 11:00 AM, the students boarded the buses, ready to head back to the school for lunch (although many of the students and Chicken N Pickle employees thought that the students should have gotten the day off). The bus ride back was definitely a bonding moment, with the 8th graders in one bus even stealing each others’ shoes. 

While there are mixed reviews on whether or not the 8th graders and 11th graders truly bonded, all students said they had a great time. Junior James Knoflicek, said, “I had a lot of fun, although I don’t think the original mission was executed well. There wasn’t a ton of mingling between the grades. The event was enjoyable, though.” 

Many students concur with Knoflicek’s view, but at least everybody enjoyed it. Huynh believes the mission was accomplished, saying “I would say the event was successful; everyone got to know each other a little more than before. Dr. Gallagher’s form of “mandatory fun” was successful, and ultimately will benefit senior-freshman relations next school year.