Last week St John’s School students took an exhausting 29 hour trip to Costa Rica to take part in InterSEK – a sporting competition between all the schools in the IES/SEK network (of which St John’s is the flagship English school).
After a weekend at leisure visiting the rainforest and soaking up the sights and sounds of this amazing country, the students gathered together at the International School SEK Costa Rica for the opening ceremony. The events, which included swimming, basketball, volleyball, football and cross country were streamed live via webcam allowing St John’s School students and parents to support from their classrooms/homes.
Competing against some schools with over 1,000 students (many of them used to the extreme heat as well) we were always going to find the competition tough but that did not stop all our students taking part to the very best of their ability.
Amazingly that strength of character shone through for our team. Archie R came a fantastic fifth in his cross-country in a competition where most competitors were three years older and often very much bigger. In a staggering display of commitment Rosie V romped home to victory in the girls’ cross country, inspiring Sommer W-E to follow her lead into second place with an incredible sprint finish.
Mr Burgess, Deputy Headmaster of St John’s School who accompanied the students on the trip said of the experience “I am immensely proud of our students. Their behavior has been impeccable and they have all done their absolute best to get the most they possibly can from this incredible experience. Not only have we had one winner in our midst, the whole team has also come out on top winning ‘most friendly team’ in the competition – a tribute to the spirit of our students. Well done to all of them.’ Pictures of all the events can be found on St John’s Facebook page www.facebook/stjohnsschool.