At the end of August, students were welcomed back to the high school. For student councils and staff, the final weeks of summer were used to organize an exciting first day for the student body, including photo opportunities like red carpet runways and chalk murals.

Each student council met the day before school to create large chalk murals on brick walls throughout the circle, and help set up the red carpets. Eira Prakash, internal executive vice president, planned during the summer alongside her fellow council members.

“We had a student council summer committee dedicated to planning the first day and the pep rally over the summer, and we met multiple times to talk through ideas and make sure FHS was ready for everyone! We wanted to do something fun for the first day, and we knew a lot of people liked to dress up. We figured a red carpet would be the perfect way to show off people’s outfits. [It]was a big hit, especially with teachers!” said Prakash.

Feedback about these attractions was positive, as many groups took photos with the murals and on the red carpet throughout the morning. Students weren’t the only ones who participated; administrators like principal Russell Crist were involved as well.

“I love the red carpet idea and want to thank our student council and advisors for all of the hard work they put in to make the first day of school special for all students! I was excited to be a part of the hype video for the red carpet entrances and was one of the first people to get a chance to walk it. Hopefully this is something that we will continue to see in the future,” Crist said.

With these exciting first day events came additions to the student handbook, like rules about absences and a changed bathroom pass system.

“These expectations are actually not new at all and were in place before COVID […]. The expectations help us to rebuild and re-establish successful routines and habits for all students and help to promote school wide safety, which is our top priority. […] Having set routines and expectations that encourage students to be in class help us to meet those high expectations. Having said that, student voice is important in this process and we will continue to listen and adjust as needed,” Crist said.

To share some of these important announcements, senior class president Avery Sama joined Crist in a livestream shown to students during hawk’s nest that morning. The two welcomed everyone back to the building and shared their excitement about the new school year.

“Last year the first day of school was a field day and therefore people didn’t get the opportunity to dress up, which tends to be a first day tradition. […] A lot of people enjoyed having a designated day to dressing up as a class and taking pictures, I feel like we all came together and had fun doing that. My favorite part of the first day back was definitely seeing all my friends again, and seeing all their cute outfits. Everyone looked great, and it was truly a joy getting to see everyone,” Sama said.

The first day provided plenty of fun for returning students and allowed everyone to enjoy a normal day back at FHS.