Boarding Houses Compete for House Cup Glory at Annual House Olympics

The six houses of the St. Michaels University School boarding community spend the entire school year chasing points through House Games, house challenges and everything in between. On Sunday, May 24, the House Olympics on the upper campus playing fields delivered the moment every boarder had been competing toward all year, as Symons House and Harvey House were crowned Girls' and Boys' House Cup champions to the roar of the crowd.

With both houses sharing a building, the Harvey-Symons building claimed the Building Cup as well. It was a clean sweep that doesn't always happen, and for Symons House, the win marked the end of an 18-year wait.

Every boarder at St. Michaels University School belongs to one of six houses, which function much like an extended family within the boarding program. Each house is home to about 40 students from around the world, living together, building traditions and competing in friendly challenges throughout the year. The houses, Barnacle, Bolton, Harvey, Symons, Timmis and Winslow, are named after prominent figures in the school's history, and for many boarding students, their house becomes one of the defining features of their time at SMUS.

The House Olympics is the culminating event of the year-long competition. Throughout the school year, houses earn points through regular House Games and periodic house challenges. The House Olympics brings it all to a close each May, with close to 250 boarders competing in a series of athletic and team-based events, this year including handball, spikeball and obstacle courses, before the final standings are tallied and the cups awarded.

The oldest of the three cups dates back to the 1930s, a reminder that friendly competition has long been woven into life at St. Michaels University School. The Building Cup is a newer addition, introduced to foster connections between the boys' and girls' houses that share each residence.

For Keith Driscoll, Director of Boarding and Student Life, the rivalry between houses has always served a larger purpose. "It creates touch points where the whole community comes together," he said. "It doesn't sound like it would work, but it actually works."

The House Olympics is one of several ways the boarding community builds those connections across the year. At evening Boarding Chapels, held throughout the school year, each house takes a turn presenting to the rest of the community. Entirely student-led, the services feature music, speeches and sometimes short videos. The house at the front of the room changes each time, but the experience is a shared one, reinforcing that the six houses are, ultimately, one community.

House Olympics annually closes with an evening dinner and awards event. While there is no red carpet, the gold Oscar statues (plastic, but no less coveted) make SMUS's own SMoscars one of the most memorable nights of the year, as the boarding community honours the personalities, characteristics and moments that made that year special. Categories ranged from the Rookie Award, honouring a new student who made a strong first impression, to Most Compatible Roommates, Master Chef and Most Likely to Eventually Come Back as a Houseparent. Graduating Grade 12 students marked the occasion by formally handing off their Head of House titles to the next generation of student leaders, closing the book on one year and passing the torch to the next.