Every holiday season, the Student Government Association sponsors a door decorating contest for advisories.

The decorations consisted of a variety of lights and holiday decor throughout the academic wing With a wide range of creativity and imagination, wonders came to life. Staff and students began brainstorming ideas for the festivities early to get a head start on their fellow advisory competitors.

Assistant Principal Jake Hollin explained that this festive tradition “first started 15 years ago with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and for the first seven or eight years, they sponsored the door decorating contest and tried to encourage people to do it.”

Mr. Hollin added, “The [FCA] transferred it to the SGA to make sure everybody was doing it, and it was more exciting.”

Door decorating has since grown for many years with more and more lights and greater levels of participation.

Junior Valentina Lumaro said, “I like being creative and bonding with my advisory…I also love the Christmas season and seeing the finished product. It really brings the school to life.”

It has inspired and brought joy to all in the JC community with various themes taken from Christmas movies, outdoor winter activities, and seasonal scenes. Lights are strung throughout hallways and across lockers to embody the holiday spirit.

Due to the addition of the Festival of Lights, the SGA provided each advisory with a gift card to Target to help defray the cost of some of the items that needed to be purchased.

Judging took place on Friday, December 9, and winners were announced by Mr. Hollin at the end of the school day.

The top six winning advisories received gift cards from Dunkin’ while the six Honorable Mentions received certificates.

Science teacher, Angela Ward said, “Every year we create a design that incorporates a building; a gingerbread house, Santa’s Workshop, a post office… This year’s theme is one that we had in mind in previous years. We just felt it was time to see if we could pull off the idea.”

Mrs. Ward has repeatedly edged out her competitors in the hallways with a streak of first places five years in a row and one second place.

She added, “People always say to me, ‘Do you think you are going to win again this year?’ I always say no. My hope is that all advisories create a magical display for our holiday season, and the competition is fierce.”

This year, Mrs. Ward’s advisory once again placed among the top advisories with their Ski Lodge theme.

Advisories had almost two weeks to complete their decorating before judging. For the first few days after Thanksgiving break, advisory times were extended to 20 or 40 minutes. Some advisories began planning their themes months ago when they returned to school.

During the evening of December 10, all of the advisories’ displays were showcased as members of the local community came in and walked through the halls.