A wave of 11th graders filed into the Raymond Moore Auditorium on Sept 19 with rubber bracelets on their wrists and utter confusion in their heads. Students circulated rumors all week about this mysterious junior class assembly, prompted only by a singular email from Class President Will Elliott. 

The message was brief. After detailing the time and place of a gathering meant specifically for juniors, Elliott concluded his email in the most cryptic way possible: “Big things coming. Get Excited. See you there!”

Members of junior student council were instructed not to release any information regarding the content of the assembly, but others quickly bombarded Elliott, as well as Vice President Morgan Bielski and Secretary Erica O’Neil, for any details they could get their hands on. 

 Within the next few days, another message was sent.

“The class has been divided into four equal teams,” O’Neil detailed in her email. “Listed below are your teams for the entire year. Find your name, remember your team color (Royal, Gold, Ivy, or Stone), team captains, and find your captain outside The Grind during the ten minute passing period today between sixth and eighth period to get a wristband.”  

Thus, #quadgames was born.

Student Council’s initial inquiry was simple: How could they improve the overall spirit and unity at Lake Forest High School? The answer they agreed upon was just as clear: a system that would allow students to be rewarded for immersing themselves in their school’s culture. 

“Last year, our Executive Board met and we all agreed that we wanted to do something involving junior unification and spirit,” said Elliott. “Our advisor found that other schools were using a ‘bucket list’ program and we thought ‘wow that could be really interesting,’ but it didn’t feel fully developed yet. The council was initially all for it when we proposed the concept, but then they introduced the idea of making it an incentive program instead, creating teams and a point system to enhance the project. From there, all of the pieces just easily fell into place with a combination of hard work and collaboration from the team.” 

Through the app 5 Star Student, juniors will be able to check in at sports games, concerts, plays, and other school-sponsored events to earn “points” for their team. Students can also earn points for their team  by participating in extracurricular activities or clubs at the high school, along with completing random challenges, sporting Quad Games T-shirts, and even performing random acts of kindness. The team that accumulates the most points by the end of the year will earn a trophy to be displayed in a glass case as well as the privilege of painting the “Quad Rock.” 

The four highest-scoring juniors will each be granted two free tickets to Prom, along with a handful of other substantial prizes. 

Elliott admitted that there were some skeptics during the early stages of the process. “It was interesting,” he said. “[After the first email,] I got a lot of, first off, ‘what is this,’ and second, just the immediate, ‘oh I’m not going,’ without anyone even knowing what it was.”

Despite the initial backlash, neither Elliott nor his team gave up on the project. Eventually, as more details were released and students became aware of the incentives, support for the program grew immensely. 

More than half of the junior class was present on the morning of the 19th, all of them curious to finally uncover the reasons for the sudden assembly. Elliott was pleasantly surprised by not only the turnout, but also the overwhelming enthusiasm and support he felt in the atmosphere of the RMA. From that moment on, he knew that he could trust his peers to assist him on this journey to unify the junior class and, eventually, LFHS as a whole.

Junior Student Council advisor Julie Crouch, who works in the special education department, was beyond impressed with the executive board’s initiative and passion for the project.

“I’m blown away by the enthusiasm that this junior council has,” she said. “They have been instrumental in bringing Quad Games to life. They genuinely want to support each other and foster school spirit and I’m all on board for that!”

Additionally, Mrs Crouch is curious to see how the junior class will respond to the concept as it continues to progress over the school year. 

“It’s still in the very early stages and we have a lot of kinks to work out so kids are skeptical,” she explained. “They all like the idea and of course, are supportive, but aren’t sure how this is going to play out. I think once all the dust settles, the app works how it’s supposed to, and the message is out through social media, this is going to be the coolest thing for the 390 Juniors at LFHS. Only time will tell!” 

Elliott emphasized that the Quad Games were not created to place a burden on the juniors in any way, shape, or form. Instead, they were designed to encourage everyone to put their best foot forward and exemplify what it truly means to be a Scout. This concept has the potential to become something much larger than a junior-specific enterprise; eventually, it could transform into a school-wide competition to compare and build the spirit of each class. However, that could only happen if everyone is willing to participate, cooperate, and spread positivity from the get-go.

“I hope that the students will really just have fun,” Elliott said. “I would love for this to become a hallmark tradition, one that underclassmen can anticipate throughout their high school careers. All I can do is hope that students get a couple of friends and go see some game or even a theatre production and that the rest carries on from there.”

And finally, President Elliott has yet another brief message for the Class of 2021 as they embark on the journey of the Quad Games: “have fun, stick together, and let the games begin.”

Juniors, if you haven’t already, download the “5 Star Students App” and click on United States – IL – LFHS. Sign in with your Student ID and last name. Student app users must have Bluetooth turned ON and have opted to ALLOW location access and allow notifications. Once you are at the event, tap Events Nearby, select the event and check in! For more information, follow @lfhsquadgames on Instagram and join the remind by texting “@quadgam” to 81010 or entering “quadgam” on the remind app.