The Commons on Spirit Night is easily recognizable: seas of gray, blue, green, and black t-shirts, friends doing each other’s hair and glittery makeup, class displays showcasing each grade’s theme, and a general sense of buzzing excitement across the school. Spirit Night hit HHS on April 25th, a favorite yearly school event, and students pulled out all the stops to show their support for their grade. 

This year, the themes were Freshman Force, Sophomore Super Bowl, Junior Jurassic, and Senior Sitcom, and the commons reflected that. Lining the walls by the Main Office, each grade created  a display that showcased their theme. For Freshman Force, the freshmen designed a cloudy blue sky backdrop accompanied by a flying plane and a pilot teddy bear. The Sophomore Super Bowlers recreated a classic Super Bowl tailgate, complete with snacks, a cooler, a car, cornhole, and a lawn chair, all set against a Super Bowl backdrop. The juniors’ display brought the Commons into Jurassic Park by depicting the park entrance from the iconic movie. Finally, Senior Sitcom referenced one of the most infamous sitcom sets by recreating the “Friends”  Central Perk coffee shop.  From the infamous couch and coffee table to the decorations that paid homage to our class cabinet with a picture of this year’s senior officers, yearbooks from the last four years, and “The Voice” itself with article clippings and a copy of this year’s print edition, the display blends sitcom and Class of 2025 history.

Isabella DiStasio, senior class president, played a large role in coordinating the senior spirit events. DiStasio said she is proud of her team’s dedication under pressure and gained skills she will use in college.  “We worked hard to make our last spirit night count, and it was amazing to come together as a team to pull off the commons display, mural, dance, and movie,” DiStasio said. Ultimately, the results for the theme displays were seniors in first, sophomores in second, juniors in third, and freshmen in fourth.

One of the most highly anticipated parts of Spirit Night are the original movies, written, directed by and acted out by each grade. This year, we saw references to pop culture cornerstones like Jurassic Park and Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime show. Elise Harvey acted in the first-place winning senior film and co-wrote alongside senior Mary Reilly. “Writing and acting in the Spirit Night movie was the most terrifying and rewarding experience of my time in high school. I met so many amazing people and made so many memories I’ll never forget,” Harvey said. The seniors were followed by the freshmen in second, the sophomores in third, and the juniors in fourth.

The dances are another iconic part of Spirit Night. This year, the performances were even more exciting than usual because, for the first time in history, there was a tie for first place between the sophomores and seniors. Sophomore class president Vera Tschang helped to coordinate her grade’s dance. “We all thought it was important to go into practices giving 100% as we knew the potential our dance had. Not to mention tying first with the senior and knowing all the hard work paid off,” she said. Following the seniors and sophomores, the juniors took third, and the freshmen placed fourth.

For the mural, juniors placed first, seniors placed second, sophomores third, and freshmen fourth. The juniors redeemed themselves by placing first for their t-shirt, with the sophomores following and seniors and freshmen taking third and fourth, respectively. The seniors found their way back to first with the chant, while freshmen placed second, sophomores third, and juniors fourth. 

For Spirit Night points, seniors led with 22,450 points. The sophomores followed with 17,500 points while the juniors had 15,900 and the freshmen had 12,050. Rankings were the same for Spirit Year points: seniors with 30,650 points, sophomores with 24,300, juniors with 22,100, and freshmen with 17,500. According to student body president Ansh Agrawl, “Spirit Night was great this year. Making it happen required lots of planning on our part, whether it was making sure we have all the individual items or tracking points during the night itself. My favorite part of Spirit Night is watching the dances and seeing what all the grades can put together.”  Mrs. Dunne, one of two student council advisors, agrees saying “Spirit Night takes months to organize, but it’s so rewarding when everything comes together at the end. The best part of it is seeing everyone laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves.”