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by Ed Moreth

The Christmas spirit usually comes from the heart and doesn't involve a lot of thinking, reasoning or competitive activity, even with participants with names like "Rudolf," "Grinch," "Elf" and "Nutcracker."

The last day of school at Plains on Friday was only a half day, but it came with fun with brain power and athletic prowess for the annual Brain Bash contest to signal the coming of the school's Christmas vacation. It was especially fulfilling for team "Elf," which chalked up 120.55 points for first place and a $5 gift certificate for each player at the Bean Bug, a cafe in Plains.

Each team was comprised of nine to 12 students from seventh-graders to seniors and the teams had only 10 minutes at each station to complete the task and obtain the maximum 10 points. The 15 teams rotated amongst 16 stations set up throughout the school for over three hours Friday morning with mental or physical challenges at each one, such as math teacher Lisa Brown's "Christmas Movie Jeopardy," and music teacher Loren Lauridson's "Pico Park," a team building video game. Each team had a break time where Charity Jermyn's Family Consumer Science class provided cookies and hot chocolate.

Several students got into the Christmas spirit by dressing up for the event. Junior Keegan Huffman of team "Rudolf" was "Prancer." Eighth-grader Wyatt Miller of team "Jack Frost" wore a Santa cap. The school's Brain Bash has been going on since around 1995. The seventh and eighth grade class students were added about nine years ago.

The Brain Bash was run by the students of the Business Essentials class, headed by Kati Mitchell. In the past, the event had been run by the Jobs For Montana Graduates students and Business Essentials, sometimes helped by the National Honor Society, but the JMG class was incorporated into the Business Essentials class. Mitchell has run the Brain Bash for the last two years, but has helped with it for three before that.

Mitchell said it was a successful event for the students and teachers and said that the kids had a good time with the competition. "I asked every team if they were having a blast. The consensus was yes," said Mitchell. "We do this because kids are mentally done by the last day and because it gives them something fun to do before Christmas," said Mitchell, who added that the Brain Bash is a tradition, just like homecoming. The school had to cancel last December's Brain Bash due to a winter storm, but held it in the spring.

Business Essentials students chose the team names, which were Christmas shows and movies, like "Jack Frost," "A Christmas Story," "Polar Express," and "Frosty the Snowman." In second place, "Christmas Chronicles" collected 111.35 points and one free homework pass for any class. Team "Nutcracker" took third place with 110.35 points. Each received a candy bar. "Charlie Brown Christmas" finished fourth with 107.9 points, followed by "Nightmare Before Christmas" with 107.35 points.

The teachers and staff selected the competition for their stations, but the Business Essentials students helped some come up with an activity and to ensure there weren't any duplications, according to Mitchell, who added that there were some inventive games, such as Mike Tatum's mini golf competition, which he has done for about four years, although he changes the obstacles each year. It might have been the first time for a corn hole game, compliments of science teacher Max Bebb. Science teacher Brooks Sanford devised "Water Balloons Bombs Away," where two students paired up to carry a water balloon some 15 feet - through obstacles - and drop it into a bucket. Most made it without incident, prompting Sanford, a self-proclaimed Grinch, to make the obstacles tougher.

Debi Kulawinski, a paraprofessional, has been with the school for 34 years, but she had always been with the elementary kids during the Brain Bash activity. This year, however, she and Principal Ryon Noland ran the "Christmas Carols Charades" station in the school library.

"They were hilarious to watch," said Kulawinski. She said that one boy who was trying to get his teammates to guess "Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer," was bent over and holding back like he was in pain, but no one got it. She recalled that only one team got "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." The kids received one point per song, but she said that only two groups achieved the maximum 10 points.

It was also the first for paraprofessional Jackie Deery, whose "Just Dance" station brought exercise as well as laughter as the teams tried to keep up with dance tunes, like "Sound the Alarm" and "Eye of the Tiger." Some moves were more difficult than others, but each team received 10 participation points. Even Deery joined in on some of the numbers.

Ed Moreth

Marina Tulloch of team "Rudolf" nearly gets the suction device to stick to goggles worn by Aubrey Butcher in the "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" station of teacher Ken Nelson in the Brain Bash.

One of the stations that caught Mitchell's eye was that of art teacher Kristen Cole and her daughter, Tanna Klammer, a math teacher, who teamed up for the "Guess the Gift" station. The pair had 20 gift boxes with a different item inside each one, such as a candle, coal, or cocoa. A student could get a half point if the item was correctly guessed. For a quarter of a point deduction, they could feel the object. Team "A Christmas Story," accumulated only 3.25 points.

Kyle Mitchell went with his traditional giant "Jenga," a favorite that took a bit of insight and finesse. He's done Jenga for about eight years, but he said it never gets old. "It's fun watching them especially when it falls and they get that scared look on their face," the shop teacher said. Social studies teacher Ken Nelson again went with a dart station. He set up 10 stations within his station. All required the tossing of suction cup darts with various targets, including a "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" station where one student must stick a dart to a pair of safety goggles worn by another student.