Capturing the spirit of Spirit Week at Hewlett High

The week of Sept. 16 was filled with lots of excitement for students in the Hewlett-Woodmere School District. The week before the Homecoming game is always full of spirit in the high school, but this year it felt different.

Just a few weeks ago, the Hewlett-Woodmere community felt the tragic loss of high school sophomore John Sabu. While everyone deals with loss in different ways, the administration and Student Council felt that a great way to get back to normal and cheer up the students was to go on with the Homecoming festivities.

Spirit Week at Hewlett High School kicked off with pajama day. Tuesday, students and teachers dressed up for the luau theme; grass skirts and flower leis were seen throughout the halls of the building. Wacky Wednesday was next. Seniors wore wacky, neon clothing while freshmen, sophomore, and junior students wore all black. Thursday was theme day. The themes were: freshman Pirates of the Caribbean, sophomores Avengers, juniors Toy Story, and seniors Star Wars. Friday, the annual pep rally took place. Throughout the day, the excitement could be felt in the building. Students and faculty were seen wearing their favorite Hewlett spirit gear.

The pep rally was filled with lots of fun and excitement. Featuring performances from the pep rally dance team, color guard, step squad, and cheerleading team, the spirit and excitement was palpable at pep rally. Students who were nominated for the Homecoming Court were in for a surprise when they were all called down to the center of the gym.

The nominees competed in a game of musical chairs, where the first and second place winners got to pie a teacher of their choice. Football coach John Palladino, and cheerleading coach Rosemarie Abrignani were picked by the winners to be pied. After the musical chairs competition ended, the Homecoming Court was announced. The winners from each grade walked down a red carpet and snapped a picture with the other winner from their grade.

The festivities continued on Saturday at the Homecoming game against Lawrence. For the first time in years, Hewlett defeated Lawrence in football, 24-7. The halftime show featured similar performances at the pep rally had; however, the Color Guard and marching band performance depicted a quest of the Hewlett Bulldog to regain control of the school from the dark side capturing the spirit of the Star Wars theme). The halftime show was a hit, as usual, and motivated the football team to have a strong finish against Lawrence.

On Sunday, the annual Arts Below Sunrise fair on Broadway took place. Organized by students in the Youth Leadership Club, the fair allows students, especially STEAM students, to show off some of their work. The robotics teams and Art Club could be found talking to younger students, telling them about their latest work. Local vendors and food trucks could be found lining the street as well.

Spirit Week and Homecoming served as a phenomenal way to bring the community together at the beginning of the school year, and we are already counting down the days until Homecoming next year!