Have you ever been to the Commons to take a picture? During the winter seasons, students may see new decorations or opportunities around school. These may come in the form of holiday spirit days, raffles, or simply snowflakes glittering the halls. A new take to these occasions, however, has been photo ops.
“In the past couple years, especially with social media, the idea of creating different moments that you can photograph has been a larger idea we’ve had,” student activities director Mark Mirandola said.
With the festivities occurring near the end of first semester, many students may find joy in taking time to capture memories and possibly post them on social media. In the past few years, DGN has seen the Commons littered with backdrops, games, and snow globes for the community to interact with. During off periods, many students have been seen posing with different backdrops or playing basketball at the arcade-like games that are set up.
“We came up with the idea of the backdrop for homecoming, and that was another thing where we have kids dressed up throughout the week. It’s an easy way for kids to celebrate homecoming but also to encourage kids to sign up,” Mirandola said. “It evolved into, ‘let’s do something cool for the holidays. What is something we can do that’s not Christmas specific and is more winter themed, which is where the snow globe came from.”
The push for more student involvement at DGN has not been assured, as the new changes have made an environment that is more enjoyable during the chilly season. They have been a fun addition that create a healthy and relaxing school experience during the time before winter break, especially at a moment when students may be putting in extra work to finish the semester. Photo set-ups also promote the strengthening of relationships and connections that students have made during their time at DGN through new activities that friends can do together.
“I want to be more consistent with stuff throughout the year. It’s been my attitude to get away from fewer large events and increase the frequency of smaller things, whether it’s an event for Macho Man, having a band come into the Commons, doing something like the snow globe, or having holiday pictures,” Mirandola said.
While you are winding down on schoolwork, find time to grab friends and set up your phone under the cool snowy lighting. Take photos as a reminder of the fun years spent in high school and create memories that can be looked at for years in the future.
“I really love that we can incorporate the stand-in photo spots on theme. They’re a great opportunity to take a fun and exciting picture that really just represents the entirety of our experiences,” student council vice president Natalia Saucedo said.
While photo-ops are a winter event set up and run by the student activities director, there are also opportunities that are mostly directed by student involvement. For those that are a part of fine arts classes, the holiday season is a time of hard work and dedication. Students in theater, choir, band, orchestra, and many other courses come together to put on a large show known as the Mosaic Concert Dec. 11.
Made up of two back-to-back two hour long concerts, the combination of instruments, voices, and bright lights make up this tradition that celebrates the joy of the season and the ending of our year. Although this event is known for its excitement for the cold season, the arts department prides itself in something much more valuable: inclusivity.
“I feel like at least on the choir side, since choral music is really represented in so many cultures, we’ve always tried to be inclusive of lots of different things at this time of year, knowing not everybody celebrates the same holidays,” choir teacher Beth O’Riordan said.
Over the years, the choir at DGN has been singing new and diverse songs not only in the Mosaic Concert, but also in all other concerts throughout the year. Each performance tends to include at least one song in another language, which not only improves student’s skills, but also creates an enjoyable performance for those that may speak said other language.
“Our whole music staff agrees that, in a perfect world, our students see themselves represented in the music that’s performed and also, equally important, we want our students to be challenged to learn about people who are not like themselves,” choir teacher Dr. Frank Piekarz said.
A common theme seen through almost all entertainment events at DGN is attempting to teach students about other cultures. Whether this is music playing in the halls in another language, different activities for culture week, or something exciting like a band in the Commons, they continue to reach for the goal of ensuring students of all backgrounds feel seen. Inclusivity in America has significantly increased in the past decade. This is necessary, since it is a country of diversity and mixed cultures. It is so influential for DGN to be taking steps to show understanding through events like the Mosaic Concert.
“I love that students are starting to focus on these differences and people are able to see themselves included in different parts of our school,” Dr. Piekarz said.