Photo Courtesy of Sean Mayer

Student Council elected to create a “board games” theme for Homecoming this year. Each grade was assigned a particular game to embody.

Yara Zlam ‘26, Sasha Dickinson ‘26, and Kush Aggarwal ‘28

REPORTERS 

Even though the year just began, the student council is already prepared with several goals for this school year. Composed of president Anna Nam (Senior), vice president Natalie Baram (Senior), treasurer Zara Thomas (Junior), and secretary Fiona Avondolio (Senior), the council has spent days brainstorming, planning, and creating a list of objectives they wish to accomplish to advance the Longhorn legacy and improve the student body experience. 

At the beginning of each year, Student Council is immediately tested as they are thrown into Spirit Week and Homecoming preparations. Spirit Week features five exciting days of themed outfits, leading up to a fun-filled Homecoming dance on Saturday, where all Unionville High School students are invited to celebrate the start of the new school year. These annual events give the executive board an opportunity to give students a preview of what they can expect for the duration of the year. For example, it seems the Council will maintain and respect some traditions as they decided to keep “Blue-and-Gold Thursday” and “Color Wars Friday”. However, the implementation of “Barbecue Dads and Soccer Moms Tuesday” and “Wild West Wednesday” indicates that the Council will also make their mark by creating new customs. 

Another creative idea the student council implemented this fall was the board game theme for Homecoming, in which the decorations corresponded to the board game assigned to each grade. This inventive theme allows students to relish in their childhood memories as they become increasingly occupied amid the high school chaos. By adding this fun twist to the dance, the council created an entertaining environment for students of all ages. 

Looking forward, the council members have many ideas to improve upon aspects of Unionville culture and increase student participation. For example, one goal is to bring back older Unionville traditions, such as UQuest (a photo scavenger hunt) and the Turkey Bowl. UQuest, which has not been run since 2021, is a long-standing Unionville tradition and encourages students to interact with their community to complete 300 unique tasks. Turkey Bowl is a game in which the 

underclassmen compete in a game of flag football. Avondolio also mentioned she wants to organize, “a Spring Fling dance for 

underclassmen to accommodate for their inability to attend Prom.” 

Finally, the student council plans to get more involved in volunteering activities and fundraising. These kinds of events and activities aim to enhance the impact the school has on our local community. The most prominent example of one of these upcoming volunteering opportunities is a canned food drive for Thanksgiving. Nam said the student council hopes these events will help them “become more involved in our community.” 

The goals and advanced preparations the executive board have undertaken indicate that this school year will be a memorable one. Bringing back old traditions and creating new ones, this year is bound to have many events and opportunities for students to demonstrate their spirit and involvement within the district and local communities.