Brain Bash 2019: The tradition continues

Every year since 1995, Plains High school releases its students for the last time of the year in a unique way.

The last day of school, before the Christmas break, the students come in for a half day, during which they cycle throughout the various classes where their teachers have set up challenges and games for the students to play to compete against each other.

They call it “Brain Bash.”

During Brain Bash the various classes and grade levels were split up into about 20 teams, each with about 14 members. The teams each were each given a name, and this year the names were based on the theme of careers. Last year’s theme was Christmas. Some of the team names included lawyers, artists, athletes, professional golfers, chefs, lumberjacks and many more. During the half day, students who dressed up for their team name can achieve extra points for their team.

The event was organized by Nichole Cockrell and her Jobs for Montana Gradates class, in which she has about 18 students, most of which are seniors. Cockrell has been teaching the class for three years.

“The original intent was to mix grades. It gets them to hang out with kids they normally wouldn’t hang out with,” she said.

The class spent about a month-and-one-half preparing for the day of the Brain Bash. In past years sometimes the students have overseen the games, however this year was one where the teachers created and oversaw the games. This year the scores were updated, in real time, on a projector board in the library.

The members of the class help during the day, and a few participate in being the “jailers.” These students walk through the halls and can take a couple members from any team, pull them aside, and have them take a quiz in order for them to return to their team. This can upset the balance of power, according to Cockrell.

Each classroom had a game, created by the classroom teacher, many of which were meant to challenge the students’ minds as well as their teamwork.

One such game, in the gymnasium, was for the group to use channel-cut PVC pipe to roll a ball from one end to the other. Each student got a piece of halfpipe and they had to stand, end-to-end, for the ball to roll down the pipe. As the ball moved across the pipes, students at the starting end would have to run to the back end and reconnect their pipe pieces, to build a continuous bridge for the ball to roll on. The more balls the team got to the other side, the more points they received. If the ball fell off that team lost.

Some other games were a miniature golf course, and endangered species cork-shooting range, a candy cane drop, a giant Jenga set, movie trivia, and many more. Each classroom game had a total amount of points of 100, and each class was given seven minutes to play the game and three minutes to cycle to the next classroom. The first-place winners got $5 gift cards to McGowan’s, the second-place winners got king-sized candy bars and the third-place participants each got a small candy bar.

According to Schools superintendent, Thom Chisholm, the person who started the Brain Bash was a teacher named Don Stan.

“The teachers were looking for something to do on the last day that would encourage students to enjoy learning as well as to show up on the last day,” Chisholm said. “The event was based on “mini lessons,” which was a program they did in the 1980s where students would learn a random skill in just a few minutes such as leatherwork, knot tying, etc.

According to Chisholm, the Brain Bash was such a hit the first year, they tried it again the second year and even made T-shirts.

Chisholm showed up wearing one of the original Brain Bash T-shirts.