Founding Fathers would be proud of their juniors

November 5, 2014

The juniors completed their third homecoming hallway on Wednesday Oct. 23, demonstrating their patriotic spirit and appreciation for the Fourth of July.

The theme chosen for this year’s hallway was dubbed ‘July 4th Juniors.’ Although July Fourth is historically seen as the day of American Independence, the junior class’s hallway also captured the spirit and fun of the holiday.

The junior hallway was adorned with American flags, paintings of important historical landmarks, and various topical decorations.

The decorations bring to mind Fourth of July barbecues and summer fun.

Marisa Davitt, administrative assistant, and Rochelle Forstot, special education teacher, are the class advisers for the junior class and supervised the construction of the hallway.

“This was actually the easiest one that we’ve done of the three because everybody knew what their role was. We came in and we did it, and that was it,” Davitt said. “The freshmen year is always the hardest because you have no clue what you are walking into. By last year it got better and this year it was great.”

The July 4th Juniors theme was decided by a class vote.

“We created a list at our sophomore semi-formal last year and had everyone vote. Everyone who didn’t go to the dance, we also made sure they voted,” said class treasurer Kaitlin Stansel.

The juniors started planning for their hallway over the summer. They met every other week to make preparations and plans for the decorating.

In order to make the hallway decorating seamless, the class divvied up the hallway.

“They all pitch in in different ways,” Ms. Davitt said. “They all help each other.”

The junior class started working after school at 3:30.p.m and finished at a quarter to ten. The students made (instead of bought) many of their decorations and received many donations including paper, paint, and all of the candy for the parade.

Out of a class of 198, around 60 juniors helped out with the decorating. Some of this turnout could be attributed to the fact that the night of the 22nd was the first “Homework Free Night.”

“I like that so many people came to help. I could come up with a whole list of names of people that helped create the hallway. Not just working on it but also baking stuff for it, coming up with ideas, and also bringing the Uncle Sam,” Stansel said.

The junior class, class advisers, and much of the student body were very impressed by the patriotic hallway.

“I feel like when you pick a theme that is more general you can do more with it. So I feel like it wasn’t just like July Fourth the holiday. It was about patriotism, and I think it turned out very nicely,” Stansel said. “It captured all aspects of the holiday and the country and we had the soldiers and I think that was appreciated.”

We tried to make sure we were not messing up history facts. We tried to be respectful to the history department.

— Kaitlin Stansel

Junior Christina Howie was happy with the choice of theme this year, as well as the finished product.

“I really like coming and painting things. I like to come beforehand and make a lot of things,” Howie said. “When we actually put up the hallway a lot of people come, and it gets a little chaotic, but it’s fun.”

The junior hallway is decked out in red, white, and blue.

Underclassmen were impressed by the junior classes’ hard work as well.

“I loved the Uncle Sam, paper mache, and the creative decorations. I really appreciated how many of the decorations were handmade and how much thought and care went into everything,” Emily Podd, a freshman, said.

Since the history department was right down the hall, the Junior class also made sure to check their facts.

“We tried to make sure we were not messing up history facts. We tried to be respectful to the history department,” Stansel said.

For the advisers, though, the most important aspect was seeing everyone come together.

“It doesn’t matter whether you are in the ‘in’ group or you’re not, if you play sports or you’re in drama. Everybody comes together which is neat,” Ms. Davitt said. “I like to see that.”

The juniors also had some excellent advice to offer the freshmen class who decorated their first hallway this year.

“It’s definitely something that you should work on,” Stansel said. “Make sure you get a bunch of different people working on it and also know that it takes time and work on it in advance.”

Howie remembers putting together their hallway during her freshman year with nostalgia.

“Freshman year we literally did the whole thing the night before,” she said. “And last year and the past year we met over the summer and worked on it before the actual hallway night.”

Now that the parade is over, the class is going to start thinking of ideas for their final hallway.

“I would just like to thank the class,” Stansel said. “We couldn’t do it without them, honestly. If it would just be us doing it, the hallway would not look like what it does now.”

Leave a Comment

The Glen Echo • Copyright 2024 • FLEX WordPress Theme by SNOLog in

Comments (0)

All comments are subject to approval by The Glen Echo's staff adviser.
All The Glen Echo Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *