The Raider Reps practiced communication, problem solving, and leadership at their team-building day in October. Since they spend their free time planning pep rally games, collecting donations for good causes, and showing new students around, it’s only fair that they get to have fun too.

The first event required students to use silent communication to line up by their birth month. Next, they had to write two nice statements on paper taped on the backs of strangers.

“The activity pushed me to write something positive about someone that I didn’t even know,” Braden Nguyen, 9th, said.

Dayanara Hernandez, 9th, also liked the Say Something Nice activity.

“Writing positive messages on people’s backs might have lifted their self esteem,” Dayanara said.

As for what she learned about herself as a leader, Dayanara feels that is does not come as easily as it does for others.

“This experience made me realize that I could be a better leader if I motivate myself and push myself out of my comfort zone,” Dayanara said.

To practice how to make a good impression when meeting someone new, the Raider Reps did a game called Visual Conversation.

“I liked when we learned how to talk to a new person because you don’t always know what to say,” Jose Castro, 9th, said.

After the morning sessions, students were treated to lunch.

“I got four slices of pizza and about six cookies!” Adrian Avila, 9th, said.

Other than the food, Raider Reps enjoyed the social time.

“It was fun getting to know people I didn’t before because I love meeting cool new people,” Keyla Moss, 9th, said.

The big activity of the day was the Escape Room, which consisted of entering a small room with up to thirty people and working together to solve the clues to locate and unlock the locks and get out as quickly as possible.

“The biggest challenge was having to break the locks because everyone had to be on track,” Neri Saucedo, 9th, said.

Keyla tried her best to be open minded.

“You really had to think and listen to other people’s ideas,” Keyla said. “That was hard because there were so many different minds thinking at once. I’m a good leader, but when it comes to detective work, it’s a challenge. I be wanting to just give up.”

Sabrhea Delp, 9th, discovered that what starts out hard can become easier.

“Some of the others tried telling us what to do, but close to the end, we became a team,” Sabhrea said. “I learned that you should give others a chance to express their opinions and how they think. Not everyone thinks the same way.”

Khamille Warr, 8th, enjoyed trying something new.

“The Escape Room was the one thing I always wanted to do, and it showed me how much we had to work together,” Khamille said. “I learned that sometimes I have to step out of my shell and be open a bit. Once I did that, I was able to talk to more people.”

For some, the Escape Room presented difficulties.

“The biggest challenge was working together because some people did not work good as a group,” Jason Yeung, 9th, said. “I learned that I am not a good leader because I cannot think well with noise around me or work with others. I’m better when it comes to helping others with homework.”

Ricardo Maciel, 9th, also struggled with being a strong leader.

“I learned that in some cases being a leader can be hard because you might be with your friends and you’ll get yourself in trouble,” Ricardo Maciel, 9th, said.

Jacob Joe, 9th, learned the value of stepping up and doing the right thing.

“You don’t know who is watching,” Jacob said.

Dynasty Andrews, 8th, remained positive.

“You can do anything you put effort into,” Dynasty said.

Michael Luster, 9th, found that the tiniest of gestures have strong impact.

“I learned that you can help in the slightest way but still make a huge difference,” Michael said.