Showing off our spirit; Hallway and rock competition winners are crowned
During the week of October 9, students at Independence gathered to participate in the annual hallway decorating and rock painting competitions.
In order to encourage school spirit among classmates, the SCA hosts a friendly competition between grades as they battle for spirit points during the week leading up to Homecoming. The winner is announced at the pep rally each year and is defined as the grade with the most spirit points. Spirit points are accumulated throughout the entirety of week and are determined through a series of factors such as hallway decorations, spirit days and rock painting. The higher each grade placed in these categories the more points go toward their grade’s spirit points.
On Tuesday, October 11, the rock painting competition began as students from each grade level collaborated to paint a rock that portrayed their assigned theme. Each theme was a movie genre. Freshman were given Western, Sophomores were action, juniors were sci-fi and seniors were horror.
Lots of time, planning and effort went into each rock as class sponsors held meetings the previous week to arrange and strategize for just one of the many competitions during Homecoming week. At the pep rally, it was revealed that the freshman had taken home their very first Homecoming competition win.
Senior Maddy Wassaf agreed with the consensus stating, “If I could, I would have voted for the freshmen.” Wassaf was a fan of the ombre look of the rock, including, “I love how cohesive it looked with its sunset coloring.”
Nevertheless, rock painting was just one of the many competitions that contributed to spirit points. Hallway decorations were a separate occasion in and of itself, starting on the night before the big Homecoming game.
Similar to rock painting, students gathered in their designated hallway to decorate according to their specific theme. Many grades made an event of it, ordering pizza while playing music and bonding with their classmates.
Senior Max Black participated in the fun admitting, “My favorite part to hallway decorating is the comradery that it brings throughout the grade.”
Although it may have been a bonding experience for the seniors, the outcome of the competition wasn’t what they believed their efforts reflected. Senior Ashley Perez recalls, “I’m so upset the juniors won. The seniors should have won. We were on theme and had so many references to different movies.” While the juniors are now the reigning champions, seniors may get a shot at redemption at the next pep rally.
