Students and staff attended school yesterday wearing their ugliest sweaters and shirts in hopes of winning the school’s first Ugly Sweater/Shirt Competition. Hosted by the Wellness Committee, this event aimed to bring the community together in a unique and fun way.
The idea for the competition originated within the English department after English teachers Rebecca Litwin, Melissa Kaplan and Catherine Boswell all wore their own ugly sweaters to the school’s annual cookie exchange two years ago. Over the years wearing ugly sweaters on the cookie exchange day, in which teachers receive an assortment of cookies donated by parents and the PTA, has become a tradition with the entire English department participating last year. “We just decided to wear ugly sweaters one day and now it has become a whole school thing, because ugly sweaters are fun,” Litwin said.
When the Wellness Committee, made of both staff and prominent student leaders gathered to come up with ideas to promote community wellbeing, they were inspired by the English department’s ugly sweater event to create the Ugly Sweater/Shirt Competition.
“The wellness committee is always looking for ways to support, develop and promote wellness for students and staff and it seemed like a fun way to get some of the school spirit going and have some fun and get the community engaged in the week before break,” English teacher and committee member Michael Dickel said.
To participate in the competition, students and staff had to wear their ugly sweaters or shirts during their first period classes, where participation was tallied. Any class in which every student and teacher participated was entered in a raffle for a free breakfast. In keeping with the Wellness Committee’s mission to promote wellness within the community, the group plans to provide a relatively healthy meal. Teachers without a first period class can still participate by joining a fellow faculty member’s class and will receive part of the breakfast if they win.
The competition also awards faculty-only prizes to staff for participating in the competition. The department designated as having the best ugly sweaters will be honored with a trophy that will be placed on display in the winning department’s office. In addition, two staff members deemed as having the best ugly sweaters will awarded with a free 20 minute massage to the staff members with the two “best” ugliest sweaters or shirts. Due to how recently the event occurred, Common Sense was unable to report the competition’s winners.
Students appreciated the time and effort the Wellness Committee put into planning this event and were excited to compete in the Ugly Sweater/Shirt Competition. “I think it’s a great way to bring everyone together,” senior Jean Lyeo said.
This is just one of many activities the Wellness Committee has hosted to promote community bonding and health over the years. Tenth grade administrator Crystal Dovman serves as the committee’s primary administrator and has been the primary organizer of this event.

Sarah Greenberg

Senior News Editor