Seniors Close With a Two-peat

The seniors closed out their final Spirit Week with a two-peat, earning the honor of being the inaugural class featured on the Catie Wooten Cup. Always a fan of bucking trends, the class of 2024 has managed to come in fourth as both freshman AND sophomores before turning it around last year to become the second class ever to win as juniors and seniors. (Admittedly, rumor has it that Spirit Week used to be even more rigged)

Spirit Week is rich with traditions, both official and unofficial, and the Class of 2024 did our best to uphold them. We marched into the assembly in circus-worthy fashion, led by our president-turned-ringmaster Atticus Prinn, and our circus leader/announcer of the day Eli Olson. Despite having minimal time to plan a senior entrance – In the words of Eli: “This is a little late, but it wouldn’t be a class of 2024 plan if it wasn’t made last minute.” -- our cobbled-together solution wasn’t half bad. Jugglers juggled, cart wheelers cartwheeled and leftover red sheets from our circus tent were waved before our demonstration crumbled into the necessary element of all senior entrances: an Ultras song and a mosh pit. We tried!

With Atticus dressed as a ringleader, and Quinn Fournier dressed head to toe in red, we got off on the right foot by winning best dressed. After that, our assembly luck turned a little sour, receiving a third in most dressed (how??), a second in mural judging (robbed!), and a third in grapefruit pass after some rule changes that did not showcase our strengths. After that, the class of 2024 picked up speed, defeating the juniors in dodgeball to clinch our first win of the day. Cupcake decorating was another second-place finish (although rumor has it someone may have used box mix – we would never!) and our dance crew also got second in their third dance together in absolute thievery (looking at you, Ms. Carrigan). Our engineering crew notched a near-third place as did the relay team, although let it be known that Evan Hankins did in fact beat Ward Jenkins during his speedy and exhausting lap around the school. The sophomores managed to best us in tug-of-war where we finished second despite our basketball shoes being laced tight.

At this point in the turn of events, we were beginning to worry we too would have the honor of losing as seniors, luckily, we proceeded to win the final five events. To kick off our streak, our hard work was paid off as it announced that we had won cafe decorating with our elaborate ladder-pully-sandbag-Jenni’s weights apparatus keeping our circus tent up. Sophie Wentzell and Levi Herr showcased their frighteningly bendy spines as they led us to a first-place tie with the sophomores. Our talent group went above and beyond in their performance as Aaron Mason banged on a borrowed house door in their rendition of Who Can It Be Now by the Men at Work, capstoned by the finale as we were reminded that David Dealman is an excellent drummer. To top off the Class of 2024’s legacy, we won both the Penny Wars and the book drive (thank you, Henry’s pennies). As the busses were already stalled for nearly ten minutes, Dr. Hartnett was forced to speedily make our victory announcement, after which, in class of 2024 fashion, we rushed to the center of the gym, began our famous mosh pit, and sang the Ultras song once again.

Thank you for putting up with us YHS, and may all future Spirit Weeks be just as exciting, exhausting, and impressive. Class of 2024 OUT!