Student council adviser Laura Stiles attempted to bring some holiday spirit to FHC with her festive Christmas hat and lining the halls with glistening lights over the past few weeks. Now, she is hoping to combat student stress with a week of fun events in school.

“The plan overall for the week was to try to have a little bit of fun before exams,” Stiles said. “Since coming back, I realized that everyone seems a little down: teachers, kids, [and] everybody. I think you need to have a little fun and sort of let loose and do some of the stuff we couldn’t do last year.”

The week starting Monday the 6th will consist of activities like senior tile painting, a dodgeball tournament, Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, and finally an assembly on Friday to wrap up the week.

According to Stiles, dodgeball is one of the most popular and exhilarating activities to participate in. 

“[Students] go nuts for dodgeball,” Stiles said. “It’s crazy and very competitive; lots of people come to watch if they’re not playing. It’s a really great time for all the classes.”

Junior class president Gavin Cai agrees fully with Stiles that the dodgeball tournament is what he is most excited about.

He explained that given the juniors’ performance during Homecoming week, in activities like tug-of-war and lip-sync, he expects the juniors will have a good chance at winning dodgeball next week, as well.

“I am really looking forward to dodgeball,” Gavin said. “It’s going to be fun to just get a group of friends together and try to do the tournament. It is going to get very competitive though; I think we are going to be in the finals for sure. It will be a close one though.”

Although dodgeball will be one of the most entertaining events of the week, senior Remmie Gavle believes that the week as a whole is going to be a thrilling experience, especially for the underclassmen, who haven’t yet had a chance to experience “normal” high school. 

She feels there is a common theme among upper and underclassmen alike and that getting through that last week before exams can be very difficult, so why not add a little bit of spice to the week to lighten the mood?

“[Student council] was thinking there is a long break between Homecoming and Winterfest,” Remmie said, “which is what led Stiles to this idea. We want kids to get excited about coming to school this last week. It feels like everyone is unmotivated, and one of the goals of this extra spirit week is to make pushing through that last week easier.”

However, in addition to adding some holiday cheer into the lives of FHC, there is an entirely different goal at hand.

The school will be raising money to donate to the Veterans Home in the form of a gift. US History and AP Seminar teacher Steve Labenz has maintained a strong relationship with the veterans over the years, and each year, the school collects money in order to buy them something they need. In prior years, those gifts were electric toothbrushes and even funding their art program, Remmie explained. 

“We want to give [the veterans] something that will add to their lives, and hopefully give them some holiday cheer as well,” Remmie said.

From Gavin preparing the junior class for a dodgeball win to Remmie and the rest of the student council collecting money for the veterans’ gift, Stiles has ensured that this will be a spirit week worth participating in.

“Everyone at FHC deserves a little breather,” Stiles said. “I know juniors and seniors have been around a long time; they’ve had some fun, but we’ve got to get these younger guys built up into Ranger Country so they know how to continue the traditions. And we want everybody to be feeling good before exams. Ranger Holiday Week is going to be a little bit of laughter, a little bit of fun, and exactly what everyone needs.”