The Knightly News

by Zehra Madhavan and Hannah Mitlak

During the weekend of October 16, North students came together for Homecoming weekend, which involved a football game on Friday night and the Homecoming dance on Saturday night. North Student Council organized the event under the guidance of Victoria Bartley and Matthew Gore, this year’s new Student Council advisors.

Spirit Week began earlier in the week, with spirit days such as Pajama Day and Superhero Day. According to the theme chosen by Student Council, each class was identified by its own Ancient Civilization; seniors represented Ancient Egypt, juniors were Ancient Greece, sophomores were Ancient China, and the freshmen represented the Mayan civilization.

Spirit Week festivities culminated in Friday’s Pep Rally, which was hosted by the sophomore Student Council and emceed by math teacher Robert Boyce. North’s cheerleaders and dance team performed during the event, and ultimately, the senior class was crowned winner of Spirit Week.

This year, the decorations created for Friday’s spirit day and the Homecoming dance were especially remarkable, ranging from vibrant hieroglyphics bordering the walls of the senior section, to striking Chinese temples and dragons adorning the sophomore section.

After an impressive show by North Marching Band and Color Guard during the game’s halftime, North’s homecoming court arrived to the field on convertibles, and the winners for Homecoming King and Queen were announced. Second runners-up were Winston Delk and Miriam Li, first runners-up were Malik Thompson and Kavya Pochiraju, and the King and Queen were Michael Bamford and Saachi Bedi.

North’s Blue Hole spirit group kept morale and energy high during the Homecoming game, and the game’s results certainly did not impede the festivities of the Homecoming Dance the next day.  “I think you could see the amount of effort StuCo put into [the dance]; the jazz lounge and music were significantly better than they had been in previous years,” said senior Janavi Janakiraman.

These areas, the music and the Auxiliary Gym entertainment, were of particular interest in planning the dance.  “This year we wanted to appeal to a lot of the wants of the student body so we tried to focus on the shortcomings of previous years and how to improve them based on what we thought would be cool and creative,” said senior Executive Board President Kavya Pochiraju. “We had a new DJ this year, who did the Junior Prom last year. I thought he was a huge success. We also created a more appealing ‘photo booth’ which I think was also a success,” Bartley added.

The Executive Board attributes much of this success to its new advisors. Some worried about the transition, but ultimately Executive Board treasurer and junior Akash Anand observed, “In terms of the [Executive Board] advisor dynamic, we pretty much hit the ground running.” Likewise, the advisors provided Executive Board with the stability and guidance necessary for coordinating large events. “Ms. Bartley and Mr. Gore were really helpful in guiding us when needed and they were always there for support,” junior Executive Board Special Operations Officer Allison Hufnagel said.

The advisors and members of Student Council are already thinking ahead to next year’s Homecoming and the improvements that can be made based on this year’s experience. “We would like to implement some other form of entertainment in the ‘jazz lounge’ for those individuals who don’t like to dance in the aux gym,” Bartley said.  “We were thinking of having tailgating games, like can jam or corn hole. Another option would be to have some other form of entertainment in that room besides the photo booth and food. We are open to suggestions.”