Picture This!

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

– Helen Keller 

Each Wednesday the Urban Scholars Program hosts a team challenge; the team challenges are one of the events the students look forward to participating in through the duration of the week. There are four teams, each one a different color: Red, Orange, Green and Blue.

This week one of the challenges was Pictionary; the objective of this game is to draw as many words on a single card from the game deck in only 60 seconds as you can and have the rest of your teammates correctly guess what is it you have drawn.

With Green team starting off the game, there was a lot of pressure on the first artist. The words on the cards are not always the most common, or easiest to draw, so frustration was a feeling that almost everyone that went up to draw could relate to.

Above is a Red team member using hand motions to hint to his team that they are on the correct path to getting what the image is. The team members were shouting out random words with each sketch the artist made, hoping that one of those words would be the right answer.

The most memorable moment, so to speak, of the entire game was when one of the artists drew on the chalk board without looking at it; making direct eye-contact with the Assistant Director of Urban Scholars, completely freaking him and everyone else out.

The competition itself was and was not competitive at the same time. Yes, the objective was to obtain the most points for your team, but there was not any tension in the room between any of the teams. These ‘competitions’ bring out smiles, even in those you would not typically see smiling. It also gives the shy ones a chance to break out of their shell, even if just for a moment.

Blue team ended up in first place (with a total of 10 points), Orange and Red tied for second and Green came in last.