A group of Stuco members greet students at the door as they walk into the Holiday Hoopla on Dec 1. Sophomore Serena Noureddine collects the $5 admission price going toward Toys for Tots.
“Thank you so much for coming,” Noureddine said and a group cheers when another student shows up.
Seniors Clyde Davis and Chinwe Okafor serve pancakes from tables set up in front of the StuCo Store. The table holds hundreds of pancakes and an extensive amount of toppings. Behind them, English teacher Ms. Danielle Panzarella flips pancakes once they turn golden-brown.
Groups of students sit in the cafeteria where butcher paper lays on top of the tables, so they can color while they eat their pancakes. Groups of two and four scatter around the cafeteria as one person brings out board games.
“Y’all come eat some more,” Ms. Cavnar said. “We have plenty.”
Christmas trap music plays over speakers and some students dance to the beat put under the classic Christmas carols. Others look disgusted and whisper about the choice.
“How can they ruin Christmas music?” One student said. “Why change what isn’t bad?”
After they finish board games, eat all the pancakes they can and color on all the tables, students move into the PAC to watch Elf. Once they migrate down the hall, the movie starts and people settle into their seats. The crowd sits around the house of the theater, and everyone watches the screen on the stage.
“Why is he in the North Pole?” One student said.
“Wait, you’ve never seen Elf?” Another student said. A few people gasp around them.
Through the movie, some students talk to each other while others quote and sing along. Around 8:30 p.m. half of the people in the audience fall asleep in their chairs. At 9 p.m., when the event ends, freshmen and sophomores announce their rides wait on them and leave. Everyone else stays through the final caroling in Central Park scene.
