16 PHOTO ESSAY
THE DISPATCH FRIDAY, DEC. 10, 2021
A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
THREE, TWO, ONE, GO: Marley Anthony and Will Louis hold the lead in their three-legged race against Katherine Crosley and Ella Maedgen. Student council hosted the game, and incorporated the winter theme of the event into the three-legged race by tying the participant's legs together with Christmas ribbon. "My favorite part of the event was getting to sit back and see people actually participating and genuinely having some fun," project manager Ava Webber said. "It's really difficult to come up with something that will engage high schoolers in general so getting to see so many people playing the games and enjoying themselves was really rewarding." PHOTO BY Reagan Zuniga
Student Leadership hosts a nostalgic winter event Reagan Zuniga Managing Editor
PICTURE PERFECT: A group of junior friends gather at the photo booth hosted by the photography club for a photo. All pictures taken at the booth were posted on the photography club's Instagram. "The Way Back Winter event went better than I could’ve imagined," senior Ava Webber said. "It was really exciting to see it all come together, especially because it was really stressful planning and putting things together prior to the event." PHOTO BY Reagan
RECOGNIZING DIFFERENT CULTURES: Emma McCarthy attempts to get candies out of a cup with chopsticks. This game was hosted by the Asian Americans and Allies club. "I think event contributed to the No Place for Hate initiative in the sense that it really brought people together, which was one of our main goals from the start," senior Ava Webber said. PHOTO BY Reagan Zuniga
Walking around a circle of chairs with their hearts racing, rushing to grab a seat when the Christmas music stops, high schoolers are brought back to the times they once had as little kids. Games like musical chairs that bring back feelings of childhood bliss and naiveness were recreated at the Way Back Winter event. Way Back Winter was an event organized by Student Leadership in conjunction with the No Place for Hate initiative. The purpose of the festival is to host activities for students to promote inclusiveness and kindness through nostalgic childhood games that were enjoyed in elementary school. “We were inspired by the fall festival that had been held during my freshman year and had decided it would be fun to host something similar,” senior Ava Webber said. “We also wanted to create an event that would bring people together
after COVID-19 and would create a sense of community again. The idea behind the “way back” part of way back winter was that we could help students feel like kids again, so we came upon providing fun games and a pajama day to bring students back those days in elementary where we would have fun holiday gatherings.” All grades were invited to participate in the event with each grade being dismissed at the end of different periods. "It was nice to see the kids outside and having fun since I know a lot of my students feel overworked and overwhelmed, so some enforced fun is what they needed," English teacher Kimberly Wiedmeyer said. Student leader Steven Noack believes the event fulfilled its purpose promoting inclusiveness and looks forward to hosting similar events. "It’s important to host such events to remind students that no matter what, we are all humans and everyone deserves to be included," Noack said.
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SPREAD LOVE NOT HATE: A group of students sing karaoke together. The karaoke booth was one of the more popular attractions among all grades at the event. "I think the event helped get students back into the norm of in person school and being all together again," senior Steven Noack said. PHOTO BY Reagan Zuniga
FINAL TWO: Addie Purcell and Patrick Kenny get cheers on as they get to the final round of musical chairs. The musical chairs booth was hosted by the Student Leadership class." The musical chairs and the bead making stands are good examples of bringing random people together to help get to know everyone and make everyone feel included," senior Steven Noack said. PHOTO BY Reagan Zuniga
