OHCHS holds Winter Carnival

Photo: Chelsea Rugg

TASTE-TESTING — Chili Cook-off Competition includes five different staff-made chili that the entire school tasted and voted on.

OXFORD HILLS — Hypnotism, a bouncy house, arm wrestling, calligraphy, games, chilli contests, dodge ball, Dance Central, Wii Sports, free popcorn, snow cones, chocolate, pie throwing, pie eating, air band, tea parties, henna tattoos, Guitar Hero, snow sculptures, ultimate frisbee and lots of school spirit.

These are all the things that make up Winter Carnival at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. 

While this can’t be a normal school day, teachers like Charles MacDonald say that it’s important for the kids to have “a day of fun, because we expect so much work out of them at school.”

Winter carnival is an all-day event that happens once a year for students at OHCHS, and something that takes a lot of planning and fundraising.

There is also a Winter Carnival dance put on by the student council, from which the proceeds go to the cost of the event, like paying for the hypnotists and the free snacks.

Students dress up all week to show their school spirit. Each day has a different theme, like monochrome day, twin day, superhero day and a blast from the past day.

Two of the classes even have a hash-tag for Twitter and Instagram – for class of 2016 (freshmen) it is #Sweet16 and class of 2014 (juniors), #C14ssy.

Students wore their class colors; freshmen wore green, sophomores wore black, juniors wore red and seniors, aka “royalty,” dressed in purple and gold.

Students enjoy the festivities all day, and end in a pep rally that hosts competitions between classes, including arm wrestling and pie eating.

Students cheer on their classmates who dare to participate in front of all their peers.  

In the end, Class of 2013 seniors won the entire competition, from their “hilarious and realistic” air band performance to the song “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore.

“While we have had a lot taken from us in this community,” says one OHCHS junior, “we still have spirit and we are a huge family in Oxford Hills.”

Although it's a lot of work, in the end it all “pays off,” according to the students, because they have a great time, and “owe it all to the student council and class advisors.”

While it was short-lived, it was “not a day OHCHS students and teachers will soon forget.”

Photo: Chelsea Rugg

OUTSIDE FUN —The snow was perfect for making sculptures in the inner courtyard with art teacher Phil Hammett.