A group of panthers is called a Claw.

A group of claws is North Yarmouth Academy’s (NYA) new Upper School initiative designed by the also newly created Ministry of Fun to build community and incentivize school spirit. The program sorts students into one of four Claws of different colors, mixing grades, interests, teams, and advisories to give students a different affinity group to rally around, cheer for, and get to know!

Students earn points for their Claw throughout the year through participation, spirit, leadership, and creativity. Faculty and staff members can award points whenever they see students engaging in behaviors worth reinforcing or celebrating. Points will be revealed weekly at Monday gatherings. The program will culminate in a year-end Claw Olympics where the winning Claw is crowned.

Since COVID, students and teachers alike have been searching for ways to bring back school spirit with limited success. “The entire Upper School [grades 9-PG] is too young to have really seen or remembered what school was like before the pandemic,” said mathematics department chair and Ministry of Fun member Jennifer Michaelis. “To be fair, you can’t miss or describe what you never had and never saw modeled. It was really an unrealistically big ask for the students on executive council.”

That is, until executive council president Ava Wilkinson ’26 voiced her idea inspired by experiences at summer camp. “When I was running for executive council president [last spring], I wanted to propose something new and fun to the student body during my campaign. I took my past experiences at sleepaway camps with color wars and thought it would be a great way to get some more spirit into NYA,” said Wilkinson.

Michalis and fellow Upper School math teacher Jess Violette coincidentally had similar thoughts, and with the council members, formed The Ministry of Fun to coordinate the NYA Claw Program. “I’m really hoping that this Claws color wars can become a tradition at NYA, where it really sets the tone for a spirited school year and brings kids from all grades together in some friendly competition,” expressed Wilkinson.

The Claws officially came out on September 15, 2025, when Monday morning’s gathering relocated from the dining center to the gym where the student body was introduced to the program and given sealed envelopes. Each contained either a blue, green, red, or yellow handkerchief inside sorting them into their respective Claw. Unbeknownst to the students, they had already begun earning points during their class overnight trips the previous Thursday and Friday. Students were given Claw points by their trip leaders for good deeds on their trips. Then the fun began.

Claws competed in the first ever Claw Challenge consisting of the hula hoop relay, table roll, and an epic free-for-all rock-paper-scissors competition.

The Ministry of Fun has plans to extend the Claws into Middle and Lower School in the near future based on the success of the program in the upper school.

North Yarmouth Academy is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational day and boarding school for over 400 toddlers to postgraduate students in Yarmouth, Maine. NYA has fostered integrity, character, and intellect in its students since 1814. For more information about NYA, go to NYA.org.