Continuing an annual school-wide tradition, the Associated Student Body is preparing for the return of Field Day, today at lunch on Palo Alto High School’s Quad. 

Field Day will be open to students of all grade levels and include activities such as ring toss and bucket pong, as well as churros and popcorn on the Quad.

According to Sophomore Class President Julian Hong, the purpose of Field Day is to give students an opportunity to relax before finals.

“Each class, freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors are going to operate booths for people to play at,” Hong said. “We’ll have darts, trivia, and maybe a spin-the-wheel competition. It’s just meant as an event before finals to give students something to look forward to.”

Hong said that Paly has had Field Day as a long-standing tradition, but previous years were limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

“It [Field Day] has been a tradition at Paly for a long time and we tried to bring it back last year, but this year, we’re putting a bit more time into it,” Hong said. “We did it last year, but it was a bit more last-minute. […] This year, we’re just looking to solidify the tradition by bringing it back two years in a row.”

According to ASB senior class President Ashley Hung, there will be a variety of activities for each class to participate in both separately and together as a school.

“Field day is a lot of carnival games, and each grade is doing their own thing, we’re [seniors] doing ‘Pin the pigtail on the Viking,’” Hung said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to come together one last time.”

Field Day marks the end of a week filled with unofficial spirit-themed activities for seniors, which included a senior spikeball tournament during lunch and dress-up days such ‘dress like your type day’, and ‘jersey sports vs. Jersey Shore day’. 

According to senior Isabelle Jacobi, the activities this week have helped unite the senior class. 

“I thought this week was fun and I liked the tradition,” Jacobi said. “I’m excited for camo on Friday, and it’s always fun to have just the seniors do their own thing.”

Senior Will Barney said although the dress-up days this week have not been as eventful as official spirit weeks, he is looking forward to Friday’s school-wide event. 

“The participation has not been the strongest this week,” Barney said. “I have definitely not seen as much spirit as I would in a typical spirit week day, but I think if this field day is executed well it could do a lot of good for the cooperation and class bond between students, and I think that this field day can really help strengthen our community.”