Spirit Week under way at AHS

BUZZ IN THE HALLS by Pam Koharchik: A look at events at Allentown High School.

By:
It’s hard to believe, but another Spirit Week has hit the school. This year’s homecoming game is a bit early, Sept. 29, but that hasn’t changed the intensity of the competition for most spirited class.
As of the writing of this column, the juniors are ahead, thanks to a huge win in the poster competition. This involves classes making posters on 12-by-18-inch oak tag paper to promote school spirit.
The dress up day competitions was started by ’80s day on Friday. One student favorite was Carl Hesselein, who dressed up in pinkish acid wash jeans, a vintage Iron Maiden T-shirt, a neon hat and blasted ’80s metal music from a boom box.
Monday was No Jeans day, a day that is self-explanatory. It was so hot and steamy in the building that day, though, that wearing jeans was a bad choice anyway.
Tuesday was Slipper/Sandal day, Wednesday was Hat and Shade day and Friday will be the traditional Red and Black day.
The first of the big prepared competitions was held on Monday night, the Red and Black Assembly. Each class performed a lip-synch and dance routine according to the style of music they picked in June. The seniors, whose music genre is Broadway show tunes, did a choreographed routine that involved music from "42nd Street," "Chicago," "Annie," "The Full Monty," "Rent," and "Grease."
The juniors, whose music genre is pop, performed a routine to Brittney Spears and Michael Jackson, among others. The sophomores, oldies, did a dance number to all ’50s songs and dressed in poodle skirts. Finally, the freshman class, rock, did their show to "Rock of Ages," "Rock Around the Clock," "Crocodile Rock," "Old Time Rock and Roll," "Rockin’ in the USA," "Rock Show," and "I Want You to Want Me."
The winners were, in third place, a tie between the freshman and sophomores; in second place, the juniors; and in first place, the seniors.
Also held that night was the senior auction, where the student body can bid on the 20 seniors up for grabs. The Student Council, which hosts this event, raised more than $600 for the purchase of a defibrillator and Camp Fatima, this year’s state Student Council charity. Camp Fatima is located in Maywood, and is the only all-volunteer one-to-one camp for children with disabilities.
Allentown always ranks in the top of the state for charity fund-raising, and with Monday’s event, it looks like the students are on their way to another record-breaking year.
The week of events closes out with the banner competition and homecoming game. Take it from me, countless hours and resources are put into the decorating of a better banner than the previous year’s effort. Last year, one of the banners had a working, spinning football and another had an X-ray reader and working emergency light.
The banners are due in the cafeteria at 10 a.m. on Saturday, where they are judged and then paraded through town as part of the homecoming parade. During halftime of the football game, after the band exits the field from its "Riverdance" presentation, the winners of banner and spirit week as a whole are announced.
Another announcement comes during halftime — the winner of homecoming king and queen. This year’s nominees for king are Zac Smith, Mike Domingo, Joe Ragusa, Mike Nemeth and Rob Crotchfelt. For queen, the nominees are Sarah DeFilippis, Jennie Takter, Amanda Platt, Julianna Mozulay and Meghan Coffey.
The winners of these crowns will be featured in a future article.
The last festivity is the homecoming dance, which has grown to be a blow-out event with catered food and an enforced dress code. That will be held 8 p.m. Saturday.
The final word should be about the advisors who make this week work for the kids. The days become 15-hour days, especially when working on the banner. Rarely do they get out of school before 10 p.m., only to turn around and report back to work at 7 a.m. Lynn Folino, Melissa Trenton, Mary Johnson, Judy Briar, Gina Spinelli, Shannon McEwan, Susan Boyce and I will all attest to the fact that by the end of the week, another dinner of pizza won’t happen for months afterwards.
Buzzing in the halls this week: Back to School night is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 . . .
Any parent of a student who is looking for a job, have your child stop by the 4th Hall Office and check out the Job Placement Bulletin Board . . .
Seniors planning to apply to Rutgers University are encouraged to do so on-line. The on-line application is available now at www.rutgers.edu. The deadline is Dec. 1 for priority registration.
Pam Koharchik is an English teacher at AHS. Buzz in the Halls is a regular column.