Written by: Mira
Edited by: Alessi
Visual by: Mr. McCarthy
The whole high school competes to win a high-stakes competition of spirit and unity, and this year’s seniors won for the second time, completing their final year of participation in the Battle of the Bearcats.
On Thursday, September 17, the Batch of 2027 won the annual 2026 Battle of the Bearcats (BOB). Hosted by the International School Student Body Association (ISSBA), BOB is a highly anticipated event showcasing each batch’s passion and spirit while celebrating other batches’ abilities as well.
This year, the seniors won spirit points across 35 events, such as the 800-Meter Run Boys, 800-Meter Run Girls, Clash Royale, the Opening Cheer, So You Think You Can Dance?, and more. They also earned the spirit point for the highly competitive event, Cupcake Decorating, for the fourth year in a row! The sophomores came in second with 13 spirit points, followed by the juniors with 12, and the freshmen with 9.
The seniors not only dominated the spirit points and cheering events, winning gold in Poetry Slam for a fourth year, Basketball Girls, Debate, and Academic Bowl, but also proved their strength in the non-cheering events, taking gold in half of the 10 events, including Photography, Geocaching, GeoGuessr, Word Bomb, and Character Design.
Senior batch president Sabino reflected that “it was humility all the way until BOB, but on the day itself, humility became pride.” He delved deeper into their theme, explaining how “it felt right that after three years of being individual characters like minions, jokers, or warriors, we needed to be defined by something collective—a Kingdom.” Together, his words capture the collective identity of Batch 2027.
