Middle School faculty and staff compete in road rally

SPARTA — The faculty and staff at the Sparta Middle School recently participated in a road rally to test their skill and precision and to create some friendly competition among the staff.

With the help of many community establishments, including Sparta Books, Sparta Lanes, Caldwell Banker on the Boardwalk, the Sparta Public Library, Hunan Wok and St. Moritz, the test was laid out on public roads and parks. Teams were drawn by lottery and their goal was to travel the route laid out for them and do it as closely as possible to what the Rally Masters (Jenn Caputo and Bob Medina) intended.

The rain didn’t put a dent in the mission of the six teams of teachers that made up the rally, with Carole Sobiechowski stationed as the Check-in Master at Sparta Books. Once teams proved their tasks of the first leg were completed, they were given a second envelope of tasks that led them to the finish line at the St. Mortiz.

To show their team spirit, each team made their own costumes and created a team cheer, rap, song, skit or poem, then celebrated their efforts with a buffet dinner put on by St. Moritz.

An awards breakfast was scheduled for the following morning at the middle school where the winning team — made up of Danielle Kopp, Rosemary Bayliss and Elise Cisko — was awarded the Rulers of the Road award, just beating out Jason Kopp’s team of Kathryn Cayan and Lisa Kaplan by a mere five points even though his team was the first to check in.

Michele Hertzberg’s team, made up of Middle School Principal Doug Layman, Carol Russin, and Susan Breznak, won for team spirit with their cheer pyramid stunt putting them ahead of their competitors.

The Snail Award, given to the last team to check in, went to the team of Judith Lynch, Susan Knauss, Suzanne Jouravlev and Theresa Yanoff.