By Bridget Valls
Given how hectic the spring semester is, Winterfest is the perfect way to unwind, and perhaps laugh with (at?) the seniors and faculty during their intense basketball feud at the end of the week.
One of the best things about Winterfest week is being able to wear comfortable clothes for an entire week. But it seems as though nobody can agree on whether we want funny themes or ones where we can wear sweatpants every day.
Tess Horner (10) was not impressed with a few of this year’s NUD choices. “I wish they were more comfy clothes friendly like I don’t want to dress in khakis like a teacher,” she told me. Eloise Graber (10) would have liked more unexpected NUDs.
One thing we can all agree on is that “It’s better than our uniforms,” as Kaelyn Rolla (9) told me. I was surprised by these statements towards the NUDS, especially the dress like a teacher one, because this was my favorite NUD of the week.
A few of my friends and I went full out for this NUD. I was dressed from head to toe in wrestling merch and shorts that went down to my knees. People kept asking me if I was Maldonado or Adams. I then realized it would be a good idea to convince Mr. Adams to give me his name tag to clear up the confusion. (I think we pretty much looked identical once I got his everyday lanyard on).
Two other sophomores, Cate Turner (10) and Savannah Jones (10) dressed as Mr. Nas. (A fan favorite of our grade). The bathrobes they were wearing were a bit confusing, but once they put the goggles on, I knew exactly who they were.
Finally, Mary Lanigan Wright (10) walked into a school in khaki pants and not just a sweater but a true Brunt sweater straight from his closet, topped with his dean of students name tag. Safe to say they looked IDENTICAL.
Now, enough about the NUDS. Let’s get to the actual day everyone had waited for all week, Friday. The senior faculty basketball game.
Unfortunately, SGA was gatekeeping the entries from me. So, ahead of the game, I decided to ask people who they hoped would enter the contest. Palmer Elsas (10) had to ponder this for a second before giving me his answers. “Ms. Scott is my number one pick for teachers and Charlie Harlan is my first pick for seniors,” he told me. Charlie Harlan was a popular answer I got.
I decided to do a pre-game interview with Mr. Nas as he was very public about being in it this year after opting out of the past few games. “I think I am looking forward to playing this group of seniors and to having a comeback since I haven’t played in 3 years, and I want to beat the seniors so bad,” he told me. He was then quick to follow up with confidence that he felt that the seniors had no chance. (Which ended up being very true after the faculty’s victory.)
This game is a highlight of laughter watching teachers we’ve never seen away from their desks tackling students for the ball. But, while everybody is laughing the cheerleaders are stressing knowing they are going to be in front of the whole school at halftime.
As a cheerleader, I wanted to ask some of my teammates how they were feeling. Audrey Mia (12) was not even breaking a sweat. “I am not stressed because we have worked so hard on this performance, and I think we are very well prepared,” she told me. She had two performances as she is on the Lovett dance team as well.
But Kate Wood (10), who was new to the team, would be performing in front of an audience this year. “I was definitely a little nervous since it is in front of the entire high school,” she told me. I could totally agree with this statement. Lucky for me and Kate, these jitters went away after our perfect performance.
After the great performances of the teachers, seniors, dance team, and cheerleaders, Winterfest week was over and it was back to our rigorous schedule.
Until next year…..
