Housatonic Valley Waldorf School (HVWS) continued its celebration of autumn’s return on October 10, when the school resumed its annual Michaelmas festival game.

The school had held its annual Michaelmas festival on September 28, but due to the damp ground, it held off having students participate in the annual game associated with the festival until October 10. Family and school community members were invited to return to the school to watch students participate in the game.

HVWS eighth grade teacher Laura Wittmer ran the game this year, and fifth grade teacher Laura Hayes organized the festival.

Ms Wittmer explained near the start of the game that it is called the “Angels, Trees, and Dragons” game, but it is also commonly referred to simply as “the game.”

For the game, grade levels took turns going against the eighth grade students, who wore either red shirts for dragons, yellow shirts for angels, or green shirts for trees. Students in the younger grades were then challenged to run from one end of the field to the other to collect gemstones and run back to the start line.

The younger grades could run to a tree for safety and ask for assistance from angels, but if they were tagged by an eighth grade dragon, they were given a task to accomplish — like singing or reciting a poem. Some students had to skip around the field, and many students were tasked with hugging a teacher. Seventh grade teacher Marleen De Grande was hugged frequently, and one student mimed having a tea party with her.

Each year, the annual Michaelmas festival honors St Michael, a mythical dragon-slayer who bears a mighty iron sword, according to the school.