Reese L. '25
This Fall’s Spirit Week was quite the bang. From creative dress-ups to engaging competitive games, Spirit A-Z incorporated classic traditions such as color day and dodgeball with new and unique ideas as well, such as a petting zoo and Barbie dress-up day. Every grade embraced these stimulating activities, making sure to bring their best spirit to the table.
Spirit A-Z kicked off the week on Monday with the first dress-up: Mathletes Vs. Athletes. The underclassmen dressed up as athletes in their sports attire, while the upperclassmen countered with nerdy clothes: bow ties and button-downs galore. The faculty, meanwhile, were assigned to dress as CPS teenagers, with Preston Tucker showing off his immensely baggy jeans and oversized puffer jacket. During X block, all students went into the gym to commence the week's intergrade competitions. First, there was an M&M eating contest with chopsticks, where Joss M. took home the winning victory for the junior class. Next up was an obstacle course where students navigated through a coned path while riding a scooter board with a twist – competitors directed themselves with a toilet plunger! The course included a math problem, a ping pong ball on a spoon, and even a human wheelbarrow. With Mason J. and Nigel W. closing out the final lap with their human wheelbarrow, the juniors yet again took home the victory. Next was capture the flag, where the sophomores and seniors were the first to go head to head. The sophomores looked like they were going to win for most of the game, but just before the end, the seniors turned the tide and won the game. Finally, during lunch was the classic dodgeball tournament, with both upperclassmen teams crowned as the winners.
Following an exciting start to the week, Tuesday’s theme was Zoom day, with “business on top” and “party on the bottom.” Students pulled up to school in their white button-ups contrasted with many fuzzy and flannel styled pj pants. During lunch the dodgeball games continued, where the two winning teams faced off. The seniors ended up beating the juniors, securing their spot in the finals. On the other side of the bracket, the freshmen beat the sophomores, officially eliminating the sophomores from the rest of the tournament.
Wednesday marked the halfway point of spirit week with its wild west dress up. Students came dazzled in with flannels, overalls, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and bandanas. Instead of our Assembly, Spirit hosted a petting zoo on the music lawn, with animals ranging from bunnies, ducks, and chickens to baby goats, a baby pig, and even a mini cow! Students lined up for a turn inside the pen, getting to pet and see the animals up close while country music emanated throughout the music lawn. The lunch activity was another round of dodgeball to determine who would square off against the seniors, where the juniors beat the freshmen.
Thursday’s dress-up was the second grade-specific dress-up. This time, each grade dressed up as a different type of Barbie! 9th grade was country club Barbie with collared shirts and khaki pants, and 10th grade outdoors Barbie wearing sunhats and shorts to capture the outdoorsy feel. 11th graders wore beach shirts and lots of pink as part of their Tropical Vacation Barbie dress up, while the corporate Barbie 12th graders looked very professional in their formal suit dress code. The faculty came through with their Weird Barbie outfits of awesome makeup, fun accessories, and wacky outfits. During the Advising block was the long-awaited ZORB SOCCER! The upperclassmen and lowerclassmen faced off against each other (the seniors eventually beat the juniors after having to enter a sudden-death round), and while no final was played, both the seniors and sophomores were considered the winners.
To end the week on tradition, Friday was CPS’s classic COLOR DAY! Each grade had an assigned color as well as a location on campus to decorate. The freshmen dressed up in purple, decorating the science building and basketball courts. Sophomores dressed in yellow and decorated the gym deck and the N building. Juniors wore blue, decorating the Music Lawn, and finally, the seniors dressed both themselves and the hill building/courtyard in bright red, adorned in the red tank tops, famous to our school. Lastly, the faculty dressed in green. During what normally would be the Common Classroom block, students headed down to the gully for the classic CPS tradition: the pep rally, where seniors marked the start with their spirited entrance. First up was the poster competition (which the faculty judged), where the junior class won with their blue poster, which featured everyone in the class’s freshmen year retreat photos, and a 3D “25” that had Chabon’s favorite “silver fish” swimming on it. The seniors came in second: a giant poster, classically trademarked by College Prep’s cougar mascot. Another close competition ensued in the scream contest, where the seniors won by a narrow margin of 0.2 decibels. After these group events, individual challenges followed, such as the limbo contest, where junior Orhan HM. took home the victory with sophomore Agape D. in second place. Next up was the lettuce-eating contest, where students, Maxime C., Gardner R., Zackari J., and Hank R. shoveled lettuce into their mouths to see who could finish eating the fastest. Maxime (senior) got first place, with Gardner (junior) in second. The last activity during the open block was Tug of War, where the seniors swiftly beat the juniors in the final round. To wrap up the week’s spirited competitions, the anticipated finals of the dodgeball series took place. The seniors swiftly beat the juniors, leading them to play the traditional game against the faculty, where they handily won as well.