This school’s Patriot Palooza event served as a final hurrah before the school year comes to an end and students say goodbye for the summer. On June 12, the Student Government Association (SGA) created an event that allowed students to socialize and celebrate the year by eating popsicles and playing sports and team games. The event occurred during lunch in the Commons and main gym, with music blasting so loud it echoed through the surrounding hallways.
SGA planned this event to give students an opportunity to celebrate the end of the school year and reward them with an opportunity to relax. “We decided to plan this event for an end of the year morale booster,” junior and SGA Co-President Peace Tiam said. “Especially with the popsicles being handed out and the summary of games happening, it gave people a taste of summer and another moment to breathe.”
Patriot Palooza had a large turnout, with students either standing in line awaiting their sweet treat or getting involved in games like basketball and spike ball. The popsicles were particularly popular, as they were completely gone in a matter of minutes. “We always go back and forth on how many popsicles we should order. Sometimes we have too many left over, but this event ran out quickly, which we are happy about as so many students participated,” junior and SGA Co-President Catherine Bucsa said.
Unfortunately for the event planners, the location changed last minute. The original plan was to host the event on the back field, with more variety in games and sports. It was supposed to include basketball and soccer, and more space for students to play freely. On the day of the event, the decision was made to move it inside due to the weather, getting rid of certain activities, and adding basketball. “Admin had asked SGA if we could move it inside or move it to another day because of the heat. We were able to turn it into an indoor event, and at the end of the day it was really successful,” Tiam said.
Since Patriot Palooza is an SGA event, that also means that new members of the organization could participate. They were assigned jobs and ways to help out as they prepare for next year and understand what it means to work an event. Junior Ashley Rudolph is an incoming SGA member whose role was to walk the halls and convince students to participate in the event. “I had my friends who have been in SGA helping me out and I also thought many of us were able to get a good amount of students involved in Patriot Palooza,” Rudolph said.
Junior Isabelle Weiner said Patriot Palooza not only had high attendance but was also a nice break from having to deal with assignments and tests. “I had fun playing spikeball with my friends in the gym. Especially because I will not be able to see them as often in the summer, I was glad I had the opportunity to hang out with them,” Weiner said.
