For many students, Oct. 18 was busy. Four annual events—the Fall Family Festival, the Jog-A-Thon, the Chalk Mural and Homecoming—were all scheduled that day by the Parents’ Association in an effort to increase school spirit and attendance at the events. According to a recent Octagon poll, 63 percent of the high school student body did not like the change, and 31 percent said they missed an event due to scheduling conflicts.
Q: How did you feel about Oct. 18? Did you think it was too much or did you think it was fun?
“Basically, I didn’t like it. I couldn’t attend the Fall Family Festival which is always fun, and I couldn’t go the volleyball games either. I would have preferred having the Fall Family Festival on the following Saturday or something because having it on the same day as everything else kind of sucked.” —Bradford Petchauer, sophomore
“I know a lot of people didn’t like it, but I did because it was a fun-packed day. During the whole day I was working on the Chalk Mural, which was fun. Then later on I went to the Fall Family Festival, hung out with friends as well as my little brother, and got to do face painting for little kids.” —Julia Owaidat, sophomore
“I thought it was overcrowded. I think the Jog-A-Thon should have been moved. Having Fall Family Festival and the Homecoming games was good because it brought out a lot more people. But having the Jog-A-Thon on the same day as the Chalk Mural meant not as many students could volunteer to help, so that was definitely a downside. Having Jog-A-Thon was just an extra strain, an extra consideration. If I could move one thing, it would probably be the Jog-A-Thon, so that day you would have the pep rally, the Chalk Mural during the day, the Fall Family Festival for the kids after school, and then the Homecoming games.” —Patrick Talamantes, senior
“It was a long day, it was a packed day, but it was a fun day.”—Erik Morfin-Ruiz, junior
“I liked it because it felt like more people were into it—into the spirit. It felt like the whole school was really like ‘Woohooo!’ I was more excited, I know. I get really pumped up.” —Natalie Brown, freshman
