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Shot put, javelin, discus, wrestling, chariot races, and hula hoop.

The Youngsville Middle School Greek Olympics had it all.

Students wore togas (over their school clothes) and created and carried banners written in Greek letters.

The culminating activity for an eighth-grade cross-curricular unit on ancient Greece was an Olympics-style competition.

The events featured equipment and competitions that were less strenuous than the originals, and more safe.

The discus was a Frisbee. The shot was a tape and rubber band ball. The javelins were paper airplanes. And the wrestling was thumb wrestling. The chariots were scooters, and they were not pulled by horses.

Basketball, wall sits and hula hoop were not among the original events.

The event champions were given crowns donated by Burger King.

It's part of the middle school philosophy.

"This is the first year we've done this," math teacher Stacey Clark said. "A lot of it is because of the team planning time we have this year."

"It's a way for them to really learn," teacher Phil Knapp, who spearheaded the effort, said. "It allows kids to see a different kind of view of the subject. They get to hear about it in all the classes."

It was also a good way for the teachers to work together. "It's a great thing for us to develop and try," he said.

In social studies, the students learned about the history and culture of the Greeks.

In language arts, they studied Greek mythology.

Weights and measures in science were related to the items thrown during the events.

The Pythagorean Theorem was a key point of the math lessons related to the unit. Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician and philosopher.

Clark said she used pumpkins donated by Quality and Agway to demonstrate the theorem. Students had to design Jack-O-Lantern faces using right triangles, which Clark then cut into the pumpkins.