StuCo Spearheads Annual Fall Festivities

StuCo kicked off fall festivities with Hopkins’s annual Back to School Bash (BTSB). Taking place the night of September 23, right after class trips, BTSB filled campus with everyone from sevies to seniors. Spikeball, tug of war, cornhole, and other games were scattered across campus. Senior class StuCo representative Ava Littman ’23 said, “I think I’ll always remember kicking off the night by jumping into a game of tug of war against some random [Junior Schoolers] on my way back from field hockey practice.” In addition to the games, there was also entertainment on the Big H, a highlight of BTSB for many students. Aaliyah Padilla ’25 said, “My favorite part is the music, and hanging out with friends on the quad.”  The teacher band made its annual appearance,  performing for the 30th time in Hopkins history. This year’s lineup featured Mr.  Peters, Ms. Labelle-Young, Mr. Young, Dr. Gries, Ms. Schroth, and Ms. Maxwell.

The week following BTSB was Spirit Week. Festivities kicked off with the return of the annual student-faculty volleyball game, which pitted the Hopkins Varsity team  against the Math Department at assembly.  

This year’s Spirit Week included a new, competitive element: High school grades faced off against each other with the task of tallying as many points as possible. StuCo President Joy Xu ’23 said the goal of the new game was “to increase participation in the dress-ups and add some more fun to it.” 

Points were awarded in a couple of different ways. Student Council members ran “spirit spam pages” on Instagram, where they could post photos of students who dressed up each day. Every post counted as one point towards their grand total. The most “spirited” students were awarded tokens by teachers, each worth ten points. Miscellaneous activities like a goat scavenger hunt, number guessing games at lunch, and tug-of-war competitions across grades were other ways students could earn points for their grades. Xu noted “It took a lot of coordination between me, the class presidents, the J School [StuCo reps], and all the teachers for teacher tokens, which was tough, but, in the end clear communication and their willingness to help made the process go smoothly.” 

At the end of spirit week, the class with the most points was awarded with Dunkin’ Donuts for the whole grade, along with “pieing” their class president at the all school assembly on October 3. This year’s high school victor was the freshman class; as a result, class president Sarah Galvani-Townsend ’25 received  a face full of whipped cream in front of the entire student body. Junior School students had their own competition, which resulted in the eighth grade Head Advisor Mr. Guthrie also taking a whipped cream pie to the face.

Hopkins’s annual Homecoming Weekend marked the climax of Spirit Week. Friday afternoon featured food trucks and free doughnuts. The next day, campus was filled with student games and activities, concluding with dance for the high school students in the evening. New Head of School Matt Glendinning noted the atmosphere created by the students and families: “I love seeing all the kids and students doing different things like music, sports, hanging out, food trucks, and cheering for their friends.”  

Brandon Chung ’23 agreed, stating, “I love Homecoming because I get to meet a lot of alumni and future students. I also love coming to the games and feeling the energy.” Water Polo captain Kael Wu ’23 also cited the students’ spirit: “My favorite part is watching all the student sections going off. I love how all the students go wild cheering for our team.”

Xu extended her gratitude to the Hopkins community for their help and participation: “A huge thank you to everyone on StuCo, students and teachers, maintenance and dining crews for making the past two weeks so amazing!” According to Xu, StuCo’s plans for the  coming months include the soon-to-be announced junior vs. senior boys volleyball game, Female Football game, the Five Golden Rings assembly, and Ski Lodge Night. Xu says her “hope is that the upcoming events will only get more fun.”