On Saturday, September 9th students from the Seminole High School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program gathered at Lee P. Moore Park, but not to study. Beta Chi, a club here at SHS, hosted their first event, and arguably the most famous event of the year, the Beta Chi Picnic. Beta Chi is an IB only social club that plans fun events each month for IB students to stop studying and take a much needed break. Their events range from the picnic on Saturday to roller skating to an end of year banquet. All these events help strengthen the bond the IB students have and bring them all together in a stress free environment.
This year’s Beta Chi Picnic was definitely a success. Held every year outdoors at Lee P. Moore Park, students participated in a number of activities and left the park drenched from head to toe, not from sweat but instead from all the buckets of water being poured on them. Water fights broke out and no one was spared, including teachers. Besides getting drenched in hose water, students took IB class photos, played capture the flag, had watermelon contests, and ate pizza with snacks. From 11 to 2, IB students ran all over the park enjoying the heat and having a blast. IB junior Romina Ariannejad states: “The IB Picnic is always fun because everyone is coming together from grades 9 through 12 just to have fun. The best part is obviously the water fights where everyone is drenched and wet. I definitely dressed to get wet but I did not think I would get as dirty as I did. The good part about the Florida heat was that everyone dried fast and if you were able to stay away from where the water was, you went home dry.” The Florida heat definitely came in clutch and helped to dry students fast. Jokingly, she continued “My one advice about the picnic is trust no one, and I mean absolutely no one because you never know who’s staying behind you with a water gun.”
Salma Dhalla, an IB freshman, shared her experience at her very first Beta Chi picnic. “This was my first year being a part of the picnic and it definitely did not disappoint. I had always heard it was fun from my brother and friends and seen pictures but it was even better than I expected. Being on ninth grade campus you feel more secluded and not apart of the main campus and that leads to not feeling apart of the IB group. Events like these help us connect and feel more apart of the IB family.” Dhalla is exactly right in that events like these help all the IB students come together as one, without a campus separating them.
The Beta Chi Picnic is only the beginning to these exciting events happening here at SHS. Stay tuned for more information about this amazing club!