Ninth-graders faced a series of obstacles head-on this week to help promote camaraderie in the week-old freshman class at Pell City High School earlier this week.

During their biology classes, students were excused Tuesday to the field behind the ROTC building to participate in a series of teambuilding obstacles. During their time outside, students cooperated to move an A-frame across a stretch of ground using ropes, helped teammates crawl through a “spider web” and found ways to navigate a series of platforms with limited bridge-making materials, among other activities.

“We really want the students to realize that there is a leader in each group, and they have to work together,” ninth-grade counselor Merrill Friday said. “We thought it would be a great way to start the year off right, because they’ll need to use teamwork for the rest of their lives.”

Ideally, she said, students will do some kind of teambuilding exercise every nine weeks during the school year, but the staff is trying for at least twice per school year to begin with.

Tuesday’s exercise, Friday said, broke down barriers of prejudice and preconceived social rules in different groups of students.

“A lot of times, the standard and more advanced kids run in their own circles and are kind of separated. Out here, everyone is equal and they all have to work together,” Friday said.