Sumo Helpers

On the first day of class, I have the students play human bingo as an icebreaker and to get to know each other. Winners of bingo get candy or tchotchkes from Target's $1.00 bin. This year, one of the students selected a sumo wrestler-shaped stress ball as his prize.

Later, when his team was deciding their team identity, they chose the name "Sumo Helpers." Every class period, the sumo mascot sits in the middle of their table, usually on top of a discarded Starbucks cup or soda can. The entire thing amuses me greatly, so I had one of the students take a picture with his cell phone and send it to me. The picture depicts sumo on Valentine's Day with empty candy wrappers.