From Friday, March 14, 2025, until Friday, March 21, Selma High students formed teams to compete in “Bear Dayz,” a sequence of events held each day during lunch, where they could have a chance to topple the reigning champions from last year, the “Bear Cubs,” led by David Vasquez. Each group would be scored and the points tallied on the 21st to determine the winner, so it was important for each member to participate wholeheartedly.
Teams could have no more than ten people, but could include faculty as well. The event on Friday, the 14th, was merely to introduce the groups, yet they were graded on their presentation and uniformity in attire, as they paraded in the quad holding up team banners. On the first day, the “Clar-Bears,” led by Yarektzy Navarro, and the “Caniac Combos,” led by Mia Balderas, tied with 19.3 points each. In addition to the aforementioned grading criteria, they were also scored on how well they cheered on other groups and overall spirit.
“I was very proud of the way we performed,” Balderas said, “there were a few activities we could have done better on, but we still had a lot of fun and gave it our all.”
Monday was Team Trivia, which was held in the gymnasium due to heavy rain and wind. This was a vital day, as a team could score a point per question answered correctly, as well as five points for each member’s participation in the dress up days. That day was “Nerd Day,” so many chose to wear glasses and other stereotypical clothes to match the subject.
Groups had to select a member to be the “runner,” as this individual would need to race against the other designated runners to take a whiteboard to a hula hoop across the basketball court, leaving the marker behind and ensuring the answer was legible. The first runner to their hula hoop was able to show their written answer for a chance to get the point. Caniac Combo took a strong lead on Monday of 37.3 points, with “Big Ballazz,” led by Kayden Berry, in second with 32.3, and Clar-Bears in third with 30.3. Individually, Caniac Combo gained the most points on Monday, adding 18.
“I was not proud of the way we performed,” Berry said, “but I do believe we did pretty good on everything.”
Tuesday’s dress up day was “Superhero Day,” and the event was Tug of War, held on the grass in front of the band room. The day used a tournament-style pairing to match groups in competition and determine an overall winner. Between two competing teams was a white foam to encourage both to try their best. Impressively, the Bear Cubs surpassed Caniac Combo for first place, gaining 25 points on Tuesday for a total score of 56. Teams could attain an additional five points per round, and the Bear Cubs got the maximum possible.
Wednesday’s event was “Squid Games” and the dress up day encouraged members to wear either pink or green. For the groups, this day required enhanced collaboration and skill, as four members had their legs tied to each other and they had to complete various tasks while aiming for a low time. Narrowly, Caniac Combo regained their top spot with 72.3 points, earning 25 on Wednesday with the lowest time of two minutes and fifteen seconds, with the Bear Cubs having 71, and the Big Ballazz having 70.3.
Thursday required members to wear camouflage to earn the five points awarded for dress up day participation, and an obstacle course was set up stretching from the 1500 wing classes to the grass by the band room.
“My favorite day was the obstacle course,” Berry said, “it was very fun, and I think the school should host more of these events.”
All members were able to participate in the challenges. The first required one to spin in a circle with a baseball bat to become disoriented, then another would grab their legs to wheelbarrow to the second obstacle. Here, one member was made to wear vision-obscuring goggles and an orange baton as they tried to walk along a wooden plank without touching the ground.
“We definitely could have done better on the obstacle course,” Balderas remembered. “There were a few stations we struggled on, which cost us a lot of time and led to our team only getting a few points for that day.”
The third challenge made two participants use each other’s bodies to pop the balloons in a bag, followed by the fourth obstacle of eating baby food out of a nursing bottle. After this was perhaps the most time consuming event for many of the groups was the bean bag toss, and the subsequent race into an inflatable house and back to culminate. The Big Ballazz took first with a total of 91.3 points, earning 21 on Thursday, which was not the most gained that day. Rather, the “Big Booms,” led by Carson Maldonado, scored the maximum possible for the event.
Friday was the final day of Bear Dayz and allowed participants to dress as their favorite musical artists. Known as “Bearchella,” it featured lip sync performances from the groups during the school rally, which also showcased Winter Guard and Winter Percussion, Los Paisanos, Selma Theater Productions, and the cheer team. Although the Big Booms gained the most points for the day, adding 19.3, it was insufficient to come out on top. Having allotted the scores throughout the week, Caniac Combo ascended to the podium with a total of 107.6 points in an upset, as they managed to surmount last year’s champions, the Bear Cubs. Just barely behind were the Big Ballazz with 107.3, and in third were the Big Booms with 104.3.
