Leadership transformed the Miramonte campus into a Nor-Cal Disneyland with Homecoming week’s Disney themed festivities.
The week of Oct. 25 came to a close with Saturday night’s dance.
Students were encouraged to dress as their favorite Disney character, which was, for the most part, adhered to by the relatively small turn out. School administrators herded dance goers through breathalyzing lines, a policy the school is very strictly enforcing this year.
“I heard that students were sneaking alcohol into the bathrooms at the dance, so the additional breathalyzers were to deter students,” said Principal Adam Clark. “We’re not just trying to bust kids. I want students to be safe and have a good time.”
The DJ’s choice of music elicited hostile and disgruntled reactions from students.
“The DJ blew,” said junior Mackenzie Martin. Other students concurred, which was shown by the glow sticks hurled at the DJ when he stopped the music to threaten a walkout.
The controversial dance was preceded by Friday night’s football upset in which Acalanes beat the Mats 7-14 in a close scoring game.
The Acalanes Dons broke the 7-7 tie and secured a victory with a touchdown in the final 18 seconds.
At half time, Senior Class President Shanni He crowned Homecoming King Aaron Whitelock, Queen Sasha Belinsky, Prince Will St. Lezin, and Princess Kelsey Williams.
The Homecoming Royalty were treated to a chariot ride, courtesy of the freshmen football team.
“I was a little embarrassed to have to ride in the chariot and pissed that I had to wear nice clothes, but the crown was pretty sweet,” said St. Lezin.
Impressive plays by senior wide receiver James King and sophomore quarterback Ross Anderson rallied crowd morale as well as Principal Clark’s spontaneous cheerleading.
“Mr. Clark is a complete badass at football games,” said junior Peter Grover. “He clearly is a die hard football and Miramonte fan.”
Many students participated in lunchtime activities inspired by classic Disney movies. Monday’s “Hercules” obstacle course, Tuesday’s “Lion King” Circle of Life cakewalk, Wednesday’s “Little Mermaid” Find the Flounder Challenge and Powder Puff, Thursday’s “Beauty and the Beast” Beard Competition, and Friday’s Disney rally all had large turn outs and spirited participants.
“Rally leaders Eric Sassano and Adam Gibson have been planning rally ideas since Leadership camp this summer,” said ASB Vice President senior Holly Finertie. “And, we were at school until 11 Thursday night.”
The apparent preparation paid off when Leadership showed the crowd-pleasing short movie spoof on “Aladdin,” “The Jungle Book,” and “Peter Pan.”
Thursday’s Powder Puff final game between the juniors and seniors resulted in an underdog junior victory. Junior Coach Anthony Piganelli prepared the team with two practices before the game and mentally inspired his players with a tribute to Joe Loudon during the team huddle. The preparation proved successful resulting in a final score of 2-1.
“I don’t care if it’s football or egg races, the class spirit I saw with the Powder Puff games was outstanding,” said Clark.
On Thursday night, Taste of Orinda drew small crowds as a result of poor publicity and scheduling conflicts, according to junior President Liza Katz.
“Next year we want to have Taste of Orinda act as a pre-game for the football game,” said Katz. “It’s hard for a lot of kids to go to an activity on a Thursday night.”
The Circle of Life cakewalk was a student favorite. “I won a cake in the cakewalk and it was frickin’ awesome,” said junior Shannon McMahon. Freshman Laura Rosas celebrated her cakewalk win with a victorious jump and then proceeded to select a Leadership-prepared cake of her choice.
Miramonte juniors Roy Erez and Babak Attar were seen growing thick beards in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s determination of the beard-growing contest winner, but they were disappointed when Leadership failed to announce a victor.
