Winter Week Brings Holiday Cheer to Stuyvesant

During the week of December 16, students at Stuyvesant High School celebrated Winter Week—a week of festive activities organized by the Student Union. Students took part in exciting events such as a locker decorating day, movie night, gingerbread house contest, and holiday-themed photo booth. To add to the festivities, some days included fun dress codes where students had the option of wearing cozy pajamas, fuzzy socks, and cheerful holiday sweaters.

The week started off with creative events that encouraged student engagement. Students participated in locker decorating, showcasing their holiday spirits. The hallway lockers’ colorful decorations brought cheer and festive spirit to those who passed by, and many students participated in this activity with their friends to show their holiday spirit and creativity. “The decoration for the lockers was a really nice idea, even though I didn’t do it. Other lockers looked so cute and festive, making the hallways interesting. It was a nice change to the school vibe,” said sophomore Prisca Chloe Elsakr.

Although the event was fun for many participants, some organizational issues arose. “I did have fun; I was doing it with my friend and it was fun comparing our lockers,” said sophomore Iqra Rashid, who participated in the event. “It wasn’t really that organized: stuff was at the table and you kind of had to figure it out yourself. I feel like it would have been better if someone was at the table to help,” she explained. However, despite some confusion at times, the overall experience and atmosphere was positive and fun. 

One highlight of Winter Week was the annual gingerbread house contest, where students teamed up to craft gingerbread masterpieces within 30 minutes. The Student Union then interviewed the contestants about their creation’s reasoning in order to choose a winner. During the contest, participants worked under pressure to design gingerbread houses, incorporating different decorations and personalized touches. Although participants faced many challenges such as a time limit and broken gingerbread pieces, the contest was a way to show creativity and enjoy friendly competition. “It was fun but super hard to complete due to the time limit. Definitely would go again,” sophomore Erica You said. “It was pretty well organized; the only thing was that many of the pieces of the gingerbread house came broken which made the competition unfair since some teams had to take time to put the pieces back together.” These challenges made the game harder but also sparked creative solutions. 

The Student Union also worked hard to create unique events for participants. “I want to say the biggest challenge was creating non-niche spirit week holiday related ideas for everyone to participate in. Shoutout to my event directors who led this spirit week. They had a creative charge during the whole process and they did amazing. We had some old traditions like gingerbread competitions and some new events like the movie night,” Student Union Vice President Cayla Chew said. Combining these new and old traditions engaged a variety of students with different interests. 

This event also garnered widespread participation from both students and staff. “It was really nice to see students and teachers participate in spirit week—for example, Mr. Moran and Principal Yu with snowmen costumes,” Chew said.

The involvement of both students and staff fostered a sense of community, making the week a celebration for everyone. “I definitely saw the school community growing closer, whether it was through taking photos with Mr. Moran and Ms. Maggio in the snowman costume or getting their locker gift-wrapped (for free!),” said Student Union Events Manager Estella Yee.

However, the Student Union faced several issues organizing all these events. “The only thing that didn’t go as planned was that our Amazon delivery got delayed a few days, so we had to scratch our Santa Duck scavenger hunt event,” said Yee. Furthermore, the Student Union struggled with ensuring the right amount of supplies. “The big challenges were estimating how many participants we would get for events like the gingerbread competition and the movie night. We had to buy supplies three weeks in advance and did not want to overestimate or underestimate,” Yee said. Despite these challenges, the Student Union worked hard to coordinate with administration and have the necessary supplies.

Overall, the events of Winter Week brought the school together in a fun and festive way. The creativity from the Student Union and enthusiasm from participants helped make this week fun and a great way to end 2024. The locker decorating and gingerbread house contests, among others, filled the school with joy, creativity, and festive spirit. This persisted throughout the week, creating memories for those who participated. The Student Union’s dedication and students’ excitement and participation showed school spirit and excitement for participating in these events. “There was a much higher holiday spirit energy in the halls than years past, and it seemed that faculty and students alike had a great time!” said Yee.