0
0
The first-ever AHS float committee brought collaboration, competition, and new experiences for class officers and sponsors alike.
All eyes were on the seniors, in their final year at Avonworth high school, to put on a show. “To be completely honest, the only thing that would make this process easier is having experienced it before,” said senior class President Margaret “Maggie” Goetz, when asked about her experience on the float committee. “Overall, everything has been coming along super well, with the teachers and students being more than willing to help out!”
AHS has never made floats before or had a float committee for homecoming. The idea was put together and organized by the class sponsors and a few students. “It was Anna Kohler’s brilliant idea. She pitched it to Mrs. Sebolt and me,” said Ms. George, the senior class sponsor. The floats are just part of numerous class competitions, all of which have the ultimate goal of gandering excitement for homecoming and increasing school pride. This included the color wars from spirit week. Whichever class’s float gets the loudest cheers from the fan section at the homecoming game, wins.
The junior class’s theme was the Hollywood sign itself, a unique spin on the overarching homecoming theme of Hollywood. “All of the juniors who showed up were really excited to start working on it and contributed some great ideas that we’ve sort of merged into one great idea for the float,” said junior class President Matthew Purcell. “I think we’re all really excited to see how it’s going to turn out!”
However, the float committee hasn’t been a walk in the park for everyone. “It’s been okay… [but] we have had a few hiccups,” said sophomore class Treasurer Ryan Frank. “…the stress of school plus the stress of homecoming has made it hard.” The sophomore float theme of neon will be sure to turn heads, but will it be enough to win the competition?
The goal of any competition is to outshine the rest, and the pressure is really on the freshman class to show up and show off. “This year is our chance to show what we’re capable of, and introduce ourselves to upperclassmen that we will be working with over the next 4 years… We’re here to impress,” said freshman class officer Airah Shafiq. Even more than that, the float committee, to the freshman, is about building school pride and showcasing all the hard work that went into their float. “All we hope is that we can give the crowd, and all our fellow classmates, something to remember in their time here at Avonworth.”
The freshman float ended up winning the competition, receiving the loudest cheers from the fan section at the homecoming football game. The overwhelming consensus from all the class officers, regardless of grade level or difficultly, seems to be pride. “I’ve grown the most in my appreciation for Avonworth and the students that I get to go to school with every day… We really are one big family, and that is not something that every school can say.” said senior class Vice President Anna Kohler. Above all else, the float committee taught class officers about adaptability and perseverance. “… even with COVID restrictions changing things in life, there’s always room to create new traditions.” said junior class President Matthew Purcell, “[traditions] that can be just as good — if not better — than the old ones.”
There seems to be only one complaint from the class officers, and it comes down to the work to reward ratio of the floats. “I wish the floats would have been showcased a little longer, like ten minutes of fame, then they got taken apart,” said Sophomore class officer Cassandra Heinauer. “I feel like 7 or 8 hours of work was a lot for like 10 minutes of the show.” Regardless of the dissatisfaction many of the class officers may have felt about the process of their work being displayed, many of them still feel like they were able to pull a net positive from this experience. When asked what she learned from this experience, Heinauer said, “I think taking constructive criticism and productive criticism is one of the things that we as people, and as class officers, have to understand… and take other people’s opinions into account.”
Class and club officers gained numerous life skills from this experience, and one of them is to be more daring. “I feel as though as if I have grown to be more opened minded to other’s ideas.” said student council Secretary Brandon Smidl. “… think of crazy ideas, because those ideas are the ones that are the best.” Congratulations to the freshman class officers on their win and to all of the class officers for their hard work.
Really well-written! You should be a professional journalist!!!
The float committee was a wonderful way to have students contribute and collaborate in school activities. It allowed for the imagination of the students to go wherever and it gave some competition for fun. The floats turned out great and I am very happy that the freshmen won the float competition. Although, I do agree that the floats did get torn down too quickly and could have had more of a showcase.
I like how you included different aspects of what was going on. The way that you talked about each grade’s experience while tying in the competition aspect of it.