by RYAN ROTHMAN
After a long, cold winter, a flurry of school spirit hit campus on Jan. 30. Student Council organized Chadwick’s first-ever Winter Week, culminating in the annual
Winter Formal.
Similar to the beloved Homecoming Week, Winter Week included dress-up days, competitions, athletics and a dance. Festivities began on Monday with a Snow Day and whiteout theme. Students arrived to class decked out in snow pants and ski goggles, as well as all-white outfits in honor of girls’ soccer Senior Day.
On Tuesday, students and faculty alike coordinated in “twinning” outfits. Per the iconic 2000s film Mean Girls, Wednesday followed with a simple theme: pink.
At lunch, teachers, coaches and way too many senior boys in black tank tops faced off in the Athletic Council’s annual Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game. Math teacher Michael Cass led the faculty to victory, 26-25, in the final minute.
“We just let them score to make them feel good, but we had that last play drawn out from the very beginning, where Mr. Cass tipped it in. It was all part of the plan,” explained sophomore Brendan Collins. Members of boys’ varsity basketball coached both teams.
Collins and junior Tom Rosso fulfilled their role “spectacularly” … in their own words, of course. Senior Amartya Setty was less successful in coaching the student team.
The game segued nicely into Thursday’s dress-up theme: jerseys. StuCo offered multiple interpretations of “jersey” for inspiration–Jersey Shore and Jersey Mike’s–but most stuck with standard sportswear. The theme celebrated boys’ and girls’ basketball Senior Night, which took place Thursday evening.
On Friday, students finished the week off strong dressed as celebrities and teachers, whom senior Social Chair Siena Giacoma dubbed “local celebrities.” We
spotted Kim Kardashian, at least seven iterations of physics teacher Phil Frankel, and two Ryan Zachos (math teacher and StuCo advisor), complete with bald caps, around campus.
The school week culminated with the highly anticipated grade music video competition, inspired by the successful Homecoming lip-sync battle. The sophomores won over the faculty judges with an inspired performance of Miley Cyrus’ Party in the U.S.A. Students, however, believe that the juniors were robbed.
After dominating the lip-sync, they produced a hysterical rendition of Macklemore’s Thrift Shop, complete with faculty cameos, avant-garde fashion and talking dogs.
Juniors Susan Cho and Graham Galusha attribute the devastating loss to foul play, as their video mysteriously cut off after two of the three minutes.
“We were sabotaged. The seniors knew what they were doing. They said the file was corrupted. We don’t believe it for one second,” Cho said.
Students partied at nearby Norris Pavilion during a night of dancing, churros and photo-ops to wrap up the festive Winter Week.
Despite tension, the end of the school week marked a successful collaboration between Student and Athletic councils on what ASB President Naya Dermenjian described as a “less stressful version of Homecoming Week.”
StuCo attempted several winter spirit events in years prior, but this year, the faculty-student hoops game, end of winter sports seasons, and Formal aligned in a perfect storm.
“We decided, let’s try to pull everything together.” said Zachos. “I always want to help students think from a different perspective, to zoom out and think of what’s possible at Chadwick. How can we celebrate all of our sports? How can we celebrate all the clubs and different communities that make us so strong and vibrant?”
That spirit rang through on Saturday night at Formal, which garnered the highest turnout in four years. Each grade gathered first at students’ homes for pre-parties and parent photo-ops. At 7 p.m., all grades headed to the Harlyne J. Norris Pavilion in Rolling Hills Estates for the dance.
In the Forum Ballroom, they found a dance floor, DJ, classic gala tables and catering from the Red Onion, a Palos Verdes gem. Crowds lined up at the photo booth and churro cart between songs.
The quality and relevance of music at dances remains … unreliable, and this year was no exception. Senior Anna Gu enjoyed the rotation of 2000s throwbacks,
particularly Shakira’s She Wolf and Katy Perry’s Firework. Others were
less impressed.
“DJ was being an opp [opponent]. He wouldn’t play my song request. I wanted Rich Flex by Drake and 21 Savage, so Jack Malone could be Drake and I could be 21 Savage,” said senior Liam DeJong.
Malone also expressed discontent with the music: “Liam is the 21 to my Drake. I’m a Certified Lover Boy and need my other half. The DJ was hating and didn’t want us to connect on that level like that. I needed Liam to do something for
me.”
On that note, it’s back to our regularly schedule school programming … hoping for lots of fun and a little more learning.
The Mainsheet 