Track 15. Welcome!

March 29, Monday — School, 7:30 a.m. — Gincana, Day 1

After a calm, quiet weekend, the week began. But it wasn’t an ordinary day—better yet, it wasn’t an ordinary week.

The school atmosphere felt like a celebration, and all attention was on the covered court, where students from every grade had gathered.

That day, the court was ready—not for sports. The whole space looked more colorful, breaking through the usual gray. Crepe-paper decorations and balloons in red, white, and blue filled the place. The court was dressed in the uniform colors—only now those colors carried a different meaning.

All of it pointed to one thing: the Gincana was starting. Teacher Mira was already in position, ready to make the big announcement from a stage built especially for that day.

“GOOD MORNING, TEAMS! GOOD MORNING, COMPETITORS! TODAY WE START THE GINCANA! ARE YOU EXCITED?!”

The team shirt colors separated the participants, seated in their own blocks around the entire court. The excitement was obvious—hearts beating faster, waiting for the moment to cheer for their team. Little flags waved. Some students had even brought pandeiros to make noise and hype the event even more.

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!” they shouted in unison.

After the response, Mira continued:

“IT’S GREAT TO SEE EVERYONE HAPPY AND FIRED UP! THE LONG-AWAITED OPENING OF THIS YEAR’S GINCANA AND SCHOOL GAMES IS HERE! AND THIS YEAR’S THEME—AS YOU ALL ALREADY KNOW—IS THE ENVIRONMENT! NOW WE’RE GOING TO WATCH THE OPENINGS AND THE CHEER CHANTS! STARTING WITH THE RED TEAM—FIRST YEAR!”

Now the stage belonged to the students. The teacher moved toward the judges’ table, leaving space for the performers. The order followed the high school grades, beginning with First Year.

Every year, First Year performances were known for being the most complex and full of elements. After all, First Year marked their debut as team leaders, and they wanted to show their full potential to the judges and to the older students.

They could use whatever was available to show creativity—and this year was no different. The opening consisted of several artistic elements carefully planned by the most excited members of the team.

Akiko, from First Year, and a seventh-grade boy stepped onto the stage dressed as trees. Each positioned themselves at a corner of the stage.

Down at floor level, right by the edge of the stage, a sixth-grade girl stood at a microphone holding the school poetry book. She recited her self-authored poem “Nature”, which had been selected for the book, while the theater piece played out.

During the presentation, the trees—played by Akiko and the seventh-grader—looked happy, smiling as they stood in their place in nature.

Then the fire arrived, played by two eighth-graders. The flames came from carelessness and drought. They performed a wild, uncontrolled choreography and struck one of the trees.

The burn scene unfolded as a dance circling the tree, showing it being hit and destroyed by the fire. The student playing one of the trees collapsed to the floor, motionless.

The remaining tree—Akiko—filled with sadness and cried for her dead companion. The destructive fire moved closer, and she realized her end was near.

But then a miracle happened: two firefighters, played by fifth-graders, arrived to protect nature. The tree filled with hope and joy, smiling again and celebrating the arrival of her rescuers.

The fire realized it had no chance against them and knelt, begging for compassion. But the firefighters did not give in to the destructive fire’s pleas. They put out the wildfire and saved the day.

The opening performance ended—but the war chant still had to be presented. The actors stood at the front of the stage, facing their team dressed in red, and led the chant, which was repeated by every member:

“WE ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS AND WE CAME TO PROTECT.
WITH SKILL AND ABILITY, OUR PRIDE AND DUTY IS THIS:
SAVE THE FORESTS AND FIGHT THE FIRE!
GO, FIREFIGHTERS!”

The team cheered as one. Aino and Minami were radiant, repeating the chant with full force. Miyu went along, confused—and when she looked to the side, she realized Yukino looked just as lost. Everyone had been forced to take part in the opening “to make volume.”

And so the Red Team finished and sat back down in their places.

Teacher Mira returned to the stage to comment on what had just happened.

“What was that, everyone?! And that was the beautiful presentation from First Year! And that lovely poem is available in our school poetry book, in the library!” Mira said, moved, tears in her eyes—but the show had to go on. “NOW LET’S GO TO THE WHITE TEAM—SECOND YEAR!”

There was a short wait while Second Year set up. Usually, Second Year kept things simpler: they had already experienced the “debut” the year before, and leading no longer felt so new. Even so, they still tried to do it well, with costumes and set pieces.

The set was ready. Two fifth-graders stood at each corner of the stage holding cardboard ice mountains painted with gouache, representing the South Pole glaciers.

A Second Year student stepped onstage wearing polar bear ears, representing the iconic animal. Beside him, a sixth-grader stood in a penguin costume.

So the animals that lived in icy environments were represented. The rest of the team stood in front of the stage and stretched a large white sheet above everyone’s heads—likely representing snow.

A sad, melancholic instrumental began. The two fifth-graders threw the ice mountains to the ground, showing the glaciers melting due to the planet’s warming.

Then they threw themselves to the ground as well. During the play, the students in front slowly pushed forward the white sheet that covered them.

The bear performed dizziness and fell. The penguin felt sick, suffering from the heat, and also fell. By then, the entire white sheet covered the floor. Those on stage remained motionless. The students at the front led the chant with strength and energy:

“GLACIERS, GLACIERS! WE ARE MELTING!
BEARS AND PENGUINS—THE ANIMALS ARE DYING.
HELP! HELP! OR WE WILL ALL DIE.”

How tragic, Adonis thought, under the white sheet.

The performance ended, and the students returned to their places, removing the elements from the stage.

This time, Teacher Rubi commented. She was the dance teacher—a Black woman with an athletic build and short hair dyed a bright orange-red. She stepped in as emcee and spoke, deeply moved:

“Thank you, White Team! Silent theater is full of meaning! The beauty of the glaciers melting. The cute animals losing their lives. The white sheet being pushed forward, representing the melting… It touched our hearts! I hope the animals find a better future with a generation of young people like you!” Rubi paused to breathe. “NOW THE BLUE TEAM—OUR SENIORS—MAKING THEIR FAREWELL PRESENTATION, SINCE THIS IS THEIR LAST YEAR WITH US!”

Time was given for Third Year to prepare. A common trait of senior openings was that, already tired and seeing the end of the last year approaching—and knowing they would study like crazy to pass the vestibular—they chose extremely simple performances. They were usually the shortest or had fewer elements, and they made up for it by shouting hard at the end.

The stage, now ready, had a blue cloth covering the entire floor. On top were colorful paper boats and small plastic fish—the kind used in fishing games during festa junina.

The scene began in silence, like a calm ocean. Suddenly, four people—played by seniors—appeared. Each took a corner, laughing in a sly way while tossing trash into the sea, enjoying the act of polluting.

Then two people holding whistles appeared and chased the four off the stage. They were played by Naoko and another senior girl. With the “bad guys” expelled to the sound of whistles, the day was saved—and the performance ended.

The two stood at center stage and turned toward the team in front of them, leading their war chant:

“OCEANICS WILL HELP!
THERE WILL BE NO MORE POLLUTION!
LEAVE OUR AQUATIC ANIMALS IN PEACE!
WITH THE OCEANICS, YOU CAN COUNT ON US!”

The crowd cheered and shouted after the rhyme-less chant, then everyone returned to their places. The seniors who had acted gathered together and removed the props, leaving the stage organized.

Teacher Rubi returned to the stage, still emotional, and decided to say a few words:

“How beautiful! Seniors are always special and deep! Thank you all for these wonderful presentations! THE GINCANA IS OFFICIALLY STARTED!”

On the first day of the gincana, there were no regular classes, but attendance was still taken for control. The idea was that those participating in events could relax about not being marked absent, and everyone else could cheer for their teammates.

After the opening, everyone went to snack, and the morning continued with artistic presentations. There was a singing contest and an instrument contest, where students from fifth grade through seniors could show their musical skills.

Many styles appeared—pop, rock, other genres, even regional styles and classical singing. The instruments varied between acoustic guitar, piano, electric guitar, flute, and even saxophone.

After that, there was team dance, and Akiko stood out dancing the pop-rock song by the most famous singer of the moment, Ayu. She was the lead dancer, wearing a pink fringe dress that swayed with her well-choreographed movements.