‘Spoon Champion’ Coveted Title
At The Sharon Academy
By Charlie McMeekin

Just about a month ago, students and staff at the Sharon Academy embarked on a joint adventure featuring, of all things, spoons.

Participants received a spoon and the name of a fellow Phoenix. The object of the game is to never be caught not holding your spoon by the person who is assigned to catch you, while also trying to catch your own prey without their spoon. For several days the halls were filled with people looking like they were waiting for their next meal!

Time passed, and more and more victims fell by the wayside. New wrinkles were introduced to the game, such as dictating which hand had to hold the spoon. Through it all emerged one committed, talented, ruthless spooner, TSA’s own office manager and administrative assistant, Janice Stumpf. Visitors to the office would find her typing up the weekly newsletter, her spoon clutched in her left hand.

As she walked the halls with telephone messages for students, Stumpf’s spoon would be her constant companion. One young woman who dislocated her shoulder entered the building to find Stumpf ready to commiserate with her, and to eliminate her from the competition because she did not have her spoon!

The game, which has become a Sharon tradition, is supervised by staff member Brian Tonks, whose master computer keeps score and assigns each person’s targets. In the process of playing, new students meet, have a chance to share a laugh with a faculty member, and experience the ignominy of being caught spoonless by Stumpf, this year’s spoon champion!

Stumpf admits that, "The best part of the game is to learn who some of the new students are." However, even she has had to face her own embarrassing moments. She went to the Motor Vehicle department to renew her license, and in the midst of her discussion looked down to realize that, in her left hand she was holding, not her drivers license, but her spoon!

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