­­­­The smell of both victory and Qdoba drifted into the hallway from religion teacher Rachel Harkin’s classroom on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

One of Harkins’ classes entered a competition set up by Qdoba to win a pair of Ravens tickets. The class entered a picture of themselves making a human ‘Q’ on the football field.

While the class didn’t win the competition, they were awarded 2nd place, which included coupons for a free entree at Qdoba. The class redeemed these coupons to get their choice of burritos, tacos, or quesadillas and had a party during class.

Harkins learned about this contest through Qdoba Baltimore’s Facebook page. “I really wanted to win the Ravens tickets, and I thought that a human ‘Q’ was something that you wouldn’t see anywhere else. Plus, I had the manpower for it,” Harkins said.

“When Ms. Harkins said the idea of making a giant ‘Q’ on the football field, I was a bit hesitant because of the cold weather. In the end, it was completely worth it,” junior Bryan Pussler said.

Even though they didn’t win first place, the students and Harkins are pleased with the results. “I really thought it would win 1st place, but winning second place turned out to be good too, especially because I don’t think anyone was expecting any kind of compensation prize. It was fun and surprising,” junior Emily Hennigan said.

“I’m sad that I didn’t win the tickets, but this turned out to be better, because we got to spend the afternoon together, and I wouldn’t have gotten to take them to the game,” Harkins said.

“I didn’t think I would get anything out of it because Miss Harkins would only win two Ravens tickets. It was almost better that we got 2nd because we got free burritos. I had to leave school for a soccer game but it was an amazing pre-game snack,” junior Becky Hottle said.

“At the end of the day we gave it our best. The free food was just a bonus,” junior Derek Alban said.

Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com