Week of rallies commemorates 50th anniversary

On January 21, 1961, now only marginally more than fifty years ago, Aragon High School opened its doors to students.

Flash forward five decades. After coming back fresh from a three-day weekend, Aragon students began a 50th anniversary celebration for the school’s 50th birthday. To celebrate, students participated in a decade-themed spirit week, and a week of rallies was organized and held by leadership.

On the week of Jan. 18-21, students dressed up in the spirit of past generations with out-of-style clothing and fashion sense. On Tuesday, the decade spirit week began by bringing out the 60’s as Aragon students donned headbands, tie dye shirts, and groovy shades. 60’s music played from school speakers, and students traded their pop music for classic bands like the Beatles.

On Wednesday, the school shifted into the 70’s and students got the chance to pull out clothing from the disco era. Afro-wigs, mini skirts, and maxi dresses could be spotted around campus. At lunch, students heard music from the 70’s era pouring out into center court, like Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees.

Students became even more motivated for the 80’s on Thursday and took the opportunity get creative with neon. Girls and guys alike sported workout clothes and neon headbands in a variety of colors.

Freshman Marisa Jewett wore a hot pink outfit, complete with a headband, fanny pack, and legwarmers.

However, there remained a perception that the spirit week was not receiving as much participation as expected.

Jewett was eager to wear Madonna-era clothing, but despite her spirit, many people did not dress up.

She says, “People need a reason to dress up. My middle school gave a prize for the grade that had the best participation, and everybody dressed up.”

This feeling seemed to carry over to Friday, as students and teachers alike found the 90’s theme difficult, and struggled to dress with a definitive style.

English teacher Victoria Daniel, who dressed up for the 70’s and 80’s days, says, “I think the 80’s were the most successful and students did a great job with the stereotypes. It was easiest to be resourceful and fun.” Daniel recalls more successful spirit days like sports day and little kid day. She attributes the success to the fun themes, and the “accessibility” for the students.

Leadership realizes that spirit is lacking because students are not motivated enough. In reality though, a school wide prize would be quite expensive and difficult to distribute.

Junior Allison Zober says, “We can’t give incentives, but we’ve learned that we need easier spirit days so people can dress up.”

The following Tuesday, the rallies began with a student from each grade participating in an obstacle course around the school. After hopping, hula hooping, skipping, and garbage bagging, exhausted senior Sharlin Waran rolled down the hill to come out on top with a victory for the senior class of 2011. Although not many people watched, Waran says, “This event helped get more people tuned in for Wednesday.”

On Wednesday, the lunchtime event drew a much larger crowd of students, as people gathered around to watch the Aragon spirit squads.

To start, Junior Varsity and Varsity cheer squads drew cheers as they performed an initial routine. Then, the Aragon dance team emerged victorious after they faced off against the “Hillsdale dance team” who was acted out by the Aragon improv team.

Thursday, teams of students competed in games of slip-n-slide dodgeball in center court. For the final event, students attempted to hit each other with balls while sliding on a soap-covered tarp.

Finally, for the final celebration on Friday, Aragon celebrated with free birthday cake for all students. Leadership scrambled to accommodate the needs of the crowd of students who converged upon a cake-stacked table in front of the main office. Students carrying plates of frosting-covered cake was not an unusual sight by the end of the lunch period. As the cake slowly dwindled down and was eaten, Aragon commemorated its birthday one last time in the two weeks of celebrations. This celebration, however, is not likely to be Aragon’s last for its 50th birthday.