PHS Yearbook to award $200 in prizes for Spirit Week contest

“Tuesday and Thursday during Spirit Week there will be a contest for the best costume for a group of five” Paul said. “The contestants should come here, Room 195, starting at 7:30 in the morning, until first period starts, maybe earlier.”

Tuesday will be neon themed and Thursday will be decade themed. Note, however, that the decade which you dress up for must correlate with your class as follows:

Freshmen– 2000s

Sophomores– 1990s

Juniors– 1980s

Seniors– 1970s

Groups of five will be judged based on their overall over-the-top-ness. Tuesday can be a mix of all classes within a group, but since Thursday is judged by decade, the groups may only contain five members from the same grade.

“For neon day, we’re envisioning people coloring their hair, and dressing from head to toe in neon, from hair to makeup to shoes and shoelaces and fingernails” Paul said. “In order to win the decades day… your outfit should make it abundantly clear that you’re from that decade, over the top, sparkly eyeliner, all out disco, something like that.”

And for the truly ambitious, Paul hinted that students who “can get yourself to light up like a neon sign” would be genuinely impressive. 

Granted, this may seem like a bit of a project, but it should be a fun one, and well worth it considering the implicit excuse to hang out with your friends in the process. 

“The reason why we want groups of people instead of individuals is because you’ll be more confident to participate… you won’t chicken out because you’ll have people counting on you.”

Once you and your crew are all dressed-up, you can simply head to Room 195 either before school, during homeroom, or after school until 4:15 on September 24 or 26, and Yearbook will snap your picture. Before you know it, you might just be the lucky new possessors of five AMC gift cards. Which will of course, give you another reason to see “It Chapter Two.” 

In case that isn’t motivation enough, you’ll also likely be featured in Palatine’s special edition 100th anniversary yearbook and PTV’s coveted shoutouts. You can claim your prize from Paul at anytime after the winners have been announced via the Cutlass website (hint: you’re on it right now). 

2020 marks a significant year for Palatine High School, specifically in regard to the yearbook. However, what that “100 year anniversary” label really means can be a little misleading. 

“It’s not that there have been 100 yearbooks, or that the school is 100 years old, but that the very first yearbook was in 1920– it’s the 100th anniversary of the first printed yearbook” Allen Paul, activity sponsor and English teacher at PHS said. 

Interestingly enough, the very first editor-in-chief of Palatine’s yearbook was, wait for it…  William Fremd. 

However, we like to think we’ve evolved since then, and a century later Palatine has taken a new initiative to truly kickoff the homecoming season with some friendly competition. 

Finally, if you’re worried about favoritism, don’t be. The competition will be judged by Yearbook editors and Student Council officers, plus several unbiased third parties.

“For the sake of worrying about bias, none of the Yearbook editors, Student Council officers or their immediate family are eligible to compete,” Paul said.

If all goes well, Paul expects this to be the first of many Spirit Week competitions to come.

“The reason that we’re doing this is one, to increase participation in spirit days and of course, the homecoming theme is connected to the yearbook this year, so that’s why we’re so heavily involved.”

Keep an eye out for updates through Cutlass or Yearbook, and of course, start planning those light-up, neon-splashed, hair-chalked, and nail-painted Spirit Week outfits!