Creating a friendly yet competitive environment for students to participate in, Student Council organized a tournament-style event on April 23 to bring students together.
To Student Council advisor Melissa Kling, the goal for them was to establish “community” in the high school.
“We try to help students build friendships, getting to know people that they’re not usually friends with while competing against others,” Kling said.
Student Council President Maya Bernhauser highlighted “making connections and working together in different ways” as a key takeaway from the event.
The success of the goal was evident in students’ cooperation and in the friendships they built through the tournament.
According to junior Sullivan Feldwieser, the event “helps people make friends and meet new people.”
“I think it helps [students] learn to involve themselves in cool events outside of school hours and meet new people,” senior Andrew Kalyan said.
This year’s tournament attracted new participants, Kalyan and Felwieser, through successful promotion.
“When I saw the posters for it, I thought it’d be fun to do with my friends since I’ve heard about it in years past, too,” Feldwieser said.
“I thought playing in that element would be fun, and I had other friends who wanted to do it,” Kalyan said.
The glow-in-the-dark element also added to the excitement of this event and drew in more students with its creativity.
Kling described the element as “unique.”
“I feel you never get to see the school dark and glowing,” Kling said.
For Berhauser, it was a “fun theme with the neon lights, neon clothes, along with picking teammates and team names.”
Even though some teams were eliminated early on in the tournament, students were still excited to participate and attend.
“My highlight was just hanging out with my friends even though we lost,” Feldwieser said.
Kalyan agrees. “The best part was playing with friends,” Kaylan said.
The event accomplished the goal of creating a fun and competitive environment for students, as players wished they could have continued playing.
“I wish we were able to play more games. Since we lost the first match, we were eliminated,” Feldwieser said.
Kling was pleased with the outcome. “[There were] lots of students who really enjoyed this event,” Kling said.
“The student body has a lot of fun playing the games together,” Berhauser said.
Although not participating, many Student Council members also enjoyed this event from the sidelines.
“Being in the gym when it’s dark and glowing is pretty cool, and I like seeing teams compete,” Kling said.
Bernhauser said a highlight was “seeing everyone in their neon and the lights, and also seeing everyone having fun and working together.”
According to Kling, the tournament became a tradition before she took the position.
“[Glow Volleyball] was started by [mentorship coordinator Amy] Tarlo when she ran Student Council, so I wanted to keep it going,” Kling said.
Student Council started by sending a Google Form to the student body to see who was interested in participating in the tournament.
“We also posted on Instagram, did something for RedAlert, and it was on the announcements,” Berhauser said.
According to Berhauser, to actually set up the event, they used “neon tape for the lines on the court, and put tape around the balls so they lit up.”
However, participation can be difficult in the spring due to students’ sports and other activities.
“We had a good amount this year, but also it’s hard because it’s after school and there’s sports, so not everyone can make it,” Berhauser said. “One team couldn’t make it this year because of sports.”
The tournament lasted over little more than an hour where the Chizzlers, a team full of seniors, won the title.