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Hallway Decorating 101: The Work in the “Work of Art”

By Brianna Meeks

Every year, homecoming week has its share of sights and sensations. Students dressed in costumes (or simply dressed up as themselves) delight in seeing the products of others’ creativity. The highlight of the week, however, is on Friday morning. Four hallways, two upstairs and two downstairs, are transformed into representations of the different classes’ themes. Here is a small glimpse of the decorating experience.

The Thursday night before judging was a somewhat hectic experience. In any given hallway, paper and glue could be found strewn about, while students and class sponsors alike rushed about trying to complete their work. Shouts of “Don’t put duct tape on the balloons!” and “Where’s the stapler?” rang throughout the hallways.

While the vast majority of the hallways’ creation occurs Thursday night, some dedicated students start the designs for their hallway weeks earlier. Aside from staying late into the evening throughout the week, some students also worked during the previous weekend. Senior class sponsor Mrs. Maria James said, “Lilly Thomas, the class president, got together with students and did some shopping over the weekend.”

The hallway competition created a huge class rivalry that manifested in different ways amongst the four classes. The aggressive spirit to win that was evident for the juniors and seniors was not as apparent among the freshmen and sophomores.  Sophomore Abby Knuff reminisced, “Last year, our hallway wasn’t that good. So I wanted to help make it look good.” Normally, there is a smaller turnout with the freshmen, but this year more ninth graders than usual came out to help.

For the juniors and seniors, however, the pressure was on to make elaborate hallways that would win the contest and the coveted spirit stick. The juniors were hungry for victory after winning the powder puff game. “We want to show that we’re better than the senior class,” enthused junior Stephen Coakley.

While the restrictions for fire hazards were an obstacle across the board, more problems arose throughout the experience. The freshman class felt the impediments most heavily. Freshman Jessica Troilo explained, “We had the hardest theme. We couldn’t dress up for it.” Despite this, some freshmen did manage to embody the jazz theme by posing as flappers. The freshmen found it difficult to get funds, too. The small group of class officers had to pay for many of the materials themselves.

Upperclassmen had the added difficulty of having too many commitments. “A lot of kids have work they have to go to,” Mrs. James shared, “And I’m competing with that.” Still, people did come out to show school spirit, and the hallways the next morning were a display of their hard work and dedication.

As the rest of the faculty and student body walked through the hallways enjoying the ingenuity of the designs, those who participated in decorating could truly appreciate every record, symbol, balloon, and cornstalk.

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