March Madness is a group project created by Mr. Altobelli where students create a play with a group of 8-10 people. Students have been working hard every Friday since the beginning of March to make their plays the best they can be.
Students are expected to create a 3-7 minute play with their assigned group members. The students had options for a topic they could choose. Some examples of the topics were “Chaos and Curiosity”, “What Could Go Wrong” and “That Went Well”. They will be graded on their performance, theme, script, teamwork, props, costumes, and timing. The students’ performances must be creative, engaging, and appropriate for school.
At the end of classes on Friday, students were told to self-reflect on their productivity and teamwork. Some of the questions they were asked to answer were “What were the biggest challenges your team faced?” and “What communication issues did your team encounter?” They had to answer the same set of questions every Friday to let the teachers know how productive they were with their groups.
We interviewed Mr. Atobelli about why he decided to create March Madness. He explained, “It started with Covid, the school was grim and I had the idea to do something to energize the place. March feels very long because there are not any days that we get off. I wanted to find a way to give the students a break.
We interviewed some other teachers about March Madness as well. We asked them why they had decided to have their students participate in March Madness. Mr. Stiles explained, “It’s something that Mr. Altobelli did about 3 years ago and I did it with my classes as an experiment. I thought it would be a great opportunity for my students to work together and solve problems.”
We also asked him how he thought his students did with March Madness. He said, “I think my students are doing fairly well, the last two weeks especially. They seem to be more productive and focused.”
We asked Ms. Ehnstrom the same questions and she said, “I decided to have my students do March Madness because I have heard a lot about March Madness and this is my first year working here so I was really excited to experience it. I thought it would be a great opportunity for my A Block to do. I was just excited to try something different with the class. I think my students did fantastic with March Madness. They challenged themselves and stepped out of their comfort zones. I’m really happy with the end results.”
Based on several student opinions, the best skits were Carpool Tunnel by Liam Mullane, Cooper Carignan, Sam Curtis, Zavian Ortiz, Connor Horgan, James Hamilton, Isac Castillo, and Mr. Owen Napolitano, and “Sam Curtis Saves Oakmont” by Sam Curtis, JJ Hicks, Cooper Carignan, Tanner Grimely, Liam Mullane, Zach Valentine, and Ethan Williams.
What students who participated in March Madness thought:
Elizabeth Bonilla, 9th grade: “I thought it was ok honestly.”
Adrienne Laramee, 9th grade: “I thought we were pretty good.”
Devyn Guerriero, 9th grade: “I thought it was fun to do and be with new people.”
Aubrey Lauletta, 9th grade: “I thought it was fun. I was really nervous in the beginning when I was out there. I didn’t know what to do at first. I would say to just not overthink it.”
Did you like doing March Madness?
Elizabeth Bonilla, 9th grade: “Kinda, it wasn’t the best.”
Adrienne Laramee, 9th grade: “Yes, it was stressful but it was fine after.”
Devyn Guerriero, 9th grade: “Yes, I liked it, it was fun.”
Aubrey Lauletta, 9th grade: “Yeah, it was fun. It was hard to come up with a script and everything.”
