Fear Factor at the Library

Last week was 6^th graders VIP Night at the Library. I loved it. Only 4 kids vomited, and survived through 10 rounds of pungent mystery foods. I loved watching the table of 6 boys gather around a gagging boy, as he tried to keep his food down, so that he could show me his cup was empty to go on to the next round. And once 1 boy signaled his other friends that his boy was gonna hurl, I thought, great! Liquid food spewed out of his covered mouth, as he proceeded to turn around to show me what he had just done. After asking him if he was alright, I quickly gave him a handful of napkins. His supportive friends cried to keep him going. “You can do it! Come on, you are almost done!”  Wrong. He was only on round 4, with 6 more rounds to go… With overwhelming support from his friends and now other kids knocked out from the competition, this kid kept going. But soon he was down for the countdown, answered a question from a book incorrectly, and had to leave the tournament. His friends, some girls, and younger kids gathered around their buddy, patting him on the back. I went over to him, and told him he did very well. I could tell that even after losing in the 7^th round, that he was still proud of how far he had gone. That night we had 4 winners who survived all rounds, and all participants received prizes sometime later probably at home.