The Battle of the Classes

By Elaine Wang

Between the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors of GCHS, who has the most school spirit? The week of February 13-17 was certainly an exciting one, as it marked the first “Battle of the Classes”, a friendly and exciting competition between the classes of ‘26, ‘25, ‘24, and ‘23. This year’s theme was “Trojan Pride” Throughout the week, a series of events were held, with points assigned to each class depending on their performance Festivities first kicked off with mural painting, during which artists from each grade gathered after school to design and create posters fitting the theme From Tuesday through Thursday, each grade held a class bake sale, in which students worked together inventively to sell the most food; the juniors even set up a system rewarding buyers with a chance to spin a wheel and win rewards, including gift cards The seniors scored a narrow victory by impressively raising just under $1800, though the juniors and sophomores were close behind. The class of ‘26 came last with slightly less than $300 The competition ensured students from every word grade had fun and enjoyed delicious treats throughout the week, and hyped up excitement for Friday’s grand climax: the “Battle of the Classes”. All class periods on February 17 were shortened to make room for the hour-long finale, and students from each class showed off their spirit by wearing their class color: white for freshmen, maroon for sophomores, blue for juniors, and black for seniors. With the gymnasium full of energy and anticipation after 9th period, the contests commenced with a classic game of musical chairs Teachers representing each grade also participated, and there were plenty of unexpected twists until the sophomores finally took the win In the hula hoop relay, over a dozen participants from each grade lined up and passed a hoop down the line, which the juniors completed first. Next was the leapfrog event, which the sophomores won, despite initially lagging behind. In the 3-legged race, pairs of students tied a leg together and raced in a relay. The heat was on in the plunger scooter relay, and there was a hint of scandal when the word declared winner was disputed: though the seniors didn’t finish first, they were declared first place In the penultimate event, over a dozen students from each grade huddled up while their classmates ran around them with a roll of toilet paper to wrap them together With excellent strategy and coordination, the seniors easily won The day ended with an intense game of knockout, and though the seniors put up a good fight, the sophomores eventually took home the win. In the end, the seniors claimed a sweeping win with 42 points! The sophomores scored 31, the juniors scored 22, and the freshmen scored 3 Only time will tell who will win next year. Congratulations to the Class of 2023!