Weekly one on one: Ms. Vaars

The Paly Voice: What was the final spirit point standings?

Ms. Vaars: We don’t release official numbers; we never have. I can tell you the final standings though. Juniors came in first, freshman came in second, and then sophomores and seniors. These placements are without the deductions.

Voice: What do you think about the senior class theme controversy?

Vaars: I think the theme controversy was a shame, and that it tore people apart when it was supposed to bring people together. Because that is the purpose [of Spirit Week].

Voice: Why don’t you release the final spirit points tally?

Vaars: I need a good reason to release numbers.

Voice: Why?

Vaars: Sometimes people get hurt by numbers. It is a moral killer.

Voice: How was the ‘Absolute Senior" class theme approved while the Herbology theme wasn’t?

Vaars: I had said no to Herbology and then the seniors made an appointment with the principal and they agreed that if they changed the spelling and didn’t have an image of the bottle, they could use it. Granted, we are talking about alcohol which is legal over 21, where as marijuana is illegal without a prescription. But both are inappropriate for a high school environment.

Voice: What was the official deduction system used to find the final standings?

Vaars: The official deduction was ten points for every clique item. For example, the juniors lost 40 points because of the "Pirate Booty" pants. The seniors lost 260 points. I am sure there was a lot more clique items, but I can only deduct for things I see.

Voice: Are there any changes that you will be making for next year’s Spirit Week?

Vaars: Student council is still debriefing, and coming up with alphas and deltas or pros and changes, but I think we will revisit float building or maybe do away with it completely. It seems like for the past six to eight years, the floats were built by a small group. The point is to bring the class together and not to rely on a small float building group. I think we will also revisit the point system.

Voice: What were the major successes of Spirit Week?

Vaars: The attendance and participation was high, we had fun games and a very successful dance at the end.

Voice: Do you have any last thing to say about Spirit Week?

Vaars: The students that worked on Spirit Week did a lot of hard work, and I think they should be congratulated. I think it is unfortunate that they are being overshadowed by this [controversy] because they did a lot of work.