Viking Night 2024
On October 18th, Benicia Middle School hosted its annual Viking Night with the help of community and sponsors. Viking Night is an annual community event bringing BMS families together for an evening of fun, food, and entertainment. This event aims to strengthen the BMS community and celebrate school spirit.
This year, Viking Night raised $12,000 in sponsorships.
More than 1,000 people attended the family-friendly event which offered five food trucks and six inflatable obstacle courses. 20 unique student art pieces were sold, including a ceramic vase, acrylic paintings, and pencil drawings.
The event included community-building activities designed to draw connections between attendees.
“Belonging” stickers were passed out to parents, with which they were able to indicate their “belonging” to a 6th, 7th, or 8th grader. This networking exercise was intended to help parents identify others in their student’s cohort and foster connection.
Additionally, the event featured a “We Are BMS” poster wall, where attendees were invited to share their thoughts on a large poster wall featuring three fun prompts:
- What do you love most about Benicia?
- What is / was your favorite subject in school?
- Vote for your favorite (Crocs vs. Sneakers)
Attendees wrote their responses directly on the poster wall, creating a vibrant and engaging display. (Spoiler alert! Sneakers won by a small margin with an honorable write-in mention for Birks!)
The event could not have been as successful without the support and donated goods and services from our local community.
CPR Education, a local safety company run by Josh Sauberman, donated 300 wands of freshly made cotton candy to the event. Over 40 BMS parents and over 25 BHS students volunteered their time to help Viking Night run smoothly. The primary sponsors of the event were Valero Benicia Refinery and Plan It Interactive.
Mark Nelson, BMS Principal, said about the event, “I love Viking Night. This event is about our entire community – the students, families, teachers, and BMS staff. Benicia is a wonderfully diverse and vibrant place, with people from all backgrounds. Viking Night is a fantastic opportunity for us to come together, enjoy food, play games, have a good time, and support our schools.”
