As students enter the quad, sounds of holiday music welcome them, while scents of pine and freshly baked cookies fill the air.
With the arrival of the holiday season and finals week, ASB aims to intertwine the two occasions into a spirit week called Holiday Village, where students can participate in an abundance of holiday-themed activities in the quad, such as cookie decorating, musical chairs, and more.
Soni Kanaya, a junior and member of ASB, said, “The overall purpose and goal of Holiday Village is to provide students with an outlet away from finals and to help students de-stress during this stressful week of finals. This spirit week serves as a way to bring smiles to people’s faces and spread holiday spirit throughout Carlmont in order to ease student stress.”
One activity ASB offered during the week was cookie decorating where students could buy a cookie for only $1 and decorate it with different frostings and toppings in the quad.
Along with this, Holiday Village had a variety of games for students to play, such as musical chairs around the Christmas tree and a spin the wheel for prizes.
Maya Blodgett, a freshman, said, “One of my favorite parts of Holiday Village week was the cookie decorating station because I could relax and decorate a cookie for really cheap with all of my friends. It was such a great way to get involved and spread holiday spirit throughout the school!”
Finally, ASB ended the Holiday Village spirit week with Ugly Sweater Day and Carlmont’s annual Santa in the quad, where students were encouraged to wear their ugliest holiday sweater and could take pictures with Santa and his elves.
Jono Sison, a freshman, said, “My absolute favorite part of the week was the Santa in the quad and Ugly Sweater Day because it really put me into the holiday spirit. It was awesome to see such a long line to take pictures with Santa because it shows how spirited our school actually is. There were so many groups of friends coming together to take a picture with Santa in their ugly sweaters and seeing them laughing and smiling.”
In order to make Holiday Village a reality, ASB had to dedicate long amounts of time to planning and decorating for the spirit week.
Zahra Haider, a junior and member of ASB, said, “There was a lot of planning and setting up involved in Holiday Village, but it was worth it overall. First, we had to make sure we had all of the facilities for all the ideas that we brainstormed to make this spirit week different than last year. Then, we had to make sure the publicity and media commission knew about the spirit week so they could make fliers and graphics in order to spread the word. Finally, we had to buy all of the supplies in order to successfully decorate and set up for the week!”
Through spirit weeks like Holiday Village, ASB strives to provide students with an outlet to reduce the stress of finals week and to get more students involved in school activities.
“I really encourage students to participate in school events, such as Holiday Village, as they are meant to elevate the students’ high school experience and create new memories at Carlmont,” Kanaya said. “It is also extremely beneficial for students to get involved and participate in more school activities in order to reduce academic stress in high-pressure times, such as finals week. These events are made for the students, so why not participate?”
