Kids flood the hallways in their western themed costumes, with smiles on their faces as they eagerly wait their turn to participate in thrilling activities. Laughter fills the air as the first official Bulldog Round Up has commenced.
Bulldog Round Up is a rodeo-themed carnival event designed for future Bowie students to visit the campus with their families and friends to play games planned by Bowie clubs and organizations. The event was also a way for Bowie to showcase all the programs and clubs they have to offer to future students. Each club that was a part of the event had a booth where they hosted games for kids to play and gave prizes to kids for playing the game.
“It is a community event that we created to introduce our future bulldogs to campus,” class of 2026 sponsor Cindi Carroll said. “The junior class officers were responsible for brainstorming ideas for the event, which serves as their primary fundraiser for next year’s prom.”
The event was a more fun and multi-purposed way to raise money, but ultimately, according to Carroll, the focus was building connections between current Bowie students and future Bulldogs.
“This event helps create future Bulldogs by letting them get a feel for the campus environment and what types of clubs and activities they may be interested in joining when they get here,” Carroll said. “This is more of a community event, so it’s really about connecting our current students with our future students.”
One of the key aspects of the event was the games. Each club designed a game that was intended to be both easy and fun for the younger kids to play. Additionally, many of the clubs planned games that fit into the western theme, for example Spanish Honor Society chose to host cornhole.
“There was a list of different games to choose from, and we picked this one because it would be fun and easy to set up, as well as enjoyable for the kids to play,” Co-President of the Spanish Honor Society senior Larkin Bock said. “It’s a special event because it gives elementary school kids the chance to see all the different opportunities Bowie has to offer and interact with the students who run the clubs.”
In addition to the games, several clubs chose to offer interactive activities related to the club in order to get the kids interested and excited about the different options Bowie has. Clubs that chose an interactive activity instead of a game provided the kids with a chance to explore various interests and passions like music.
“I’m a member of the orchestra and also part of the leadership team,” senior Anna Franklin said. “We set up a variety of small instruments and a bean bag toss for the kids to enjoy. We hope this will encourage more kids to pick up instruments and spark greater interest in the orchestra, as it’s not as well known or popular among students.”
One of the ways that current Bowie students made Bulldog Round Up memorable for the kids was by volunteering to help run the games for their organization. The students who volunteered helped to set up the event and got experience working with young kids.
“This is a special event because it’s important that our students feel comfortable once they come to Bowie, this event sets that up for them,” Bock said. “This allows students to find their place when they come to Bowie.”
This event was a way for future students like ten year old Ryan Dranguet to get to know all of the programs and organizations Bowie has to offer. Bulldog Round Up was an ideal way for younger students to have fun learning about Bowie without being overwhelmed by all of the opportunities at Bowie.
“I go to Clayton Elementary School,” Dranguet said. “The event was fun because I got to see Bowie’s campus, and at one of the stands, I got to pie people in the face.”
Although there were many elementary school students on campus, the event also allowed parents to come and see the school that their kids will attend. The goal of the gathering being mostly for younger students was to bring the community together by connecting future Bulldogs with current Bulldogs to get the kids excited about interests they have in common with current Bowie students.
“I hope this will make future Bowie students excited about coming to school here,” Carroll said. “However, our ultimate goal is to make Bowie more welcoming to not only future students but to get parents excited to send their kids here.”
