The Fantastic Fantastics

All of the classes compete during the hula hoop relay.
Lily Solomon
All of the classes compete during the hula hoop relay.

Year after year, the four grades of Wilcox High School compete in a battle called Fantastics. During Fantastics, every student participant dresses in their class color and competes in games, dances, and several other spirit activities. This year, Fantastics is from February 29th to March 4th. The 4th is Fantastics Night, when the battle takes place in the big gym from 7 to 9 pm. For the past few weeks, each class has been practicing and preparing for the big night.

“It stands for Fun At Night Through Athletic Sports To Increase Class Spirit: this is what it means to me too,” says sophomore Rafael Tolosa. It increases class spirit, power, and unity. “Fantastics is an incredible battle of the classes, where each class comes together and competes for the top,” says junior Christina Telebrico.“It’s about the tense anticipation of dress up day results, the calm before the storm, the sudden, dramatic breaks between declaring a winner… and a loser,” says senior Vincent Le.

The students of Wilcox agree that Fantastics benefits the class, as well as being fun. “To me, Fantastics is when our class comes together and bonds. It’s a time for people to get involved and show off their passion and love for both their class and their school,” says junior Ishita Monga. Another junior involved in Fantastics, Tamara Shoubber, says “Fantastics is not just a battle of the classes but a bonding of the class. You spend hours together practicing, with sweating and yelling involved. Nothing makes me happier than the night of, and you just look at the gym center like ‘Dang, we did that!” Last year, when the class of 2017 were sophomores, they got second place. “It was both emotional and physical. The way it feels to work hard for something then succeed is unimaginable,” adds Shoubber.

To make a strong class, you need strong participants. “Fantastics benefits the participants by instilling a sense of pride in our class and school,” says sophomore Joyce Huang Ooi. Similarly, Monga adds that it “allows us to appreciate how great Wilcox students are and what each individual has to offer.” “Although there are better people for each game, I try to contribute during practices and such in the best way I can. I love seeing new faces each year that come to contribute or support our class,” says Shoubber. According to senior Miles Wolf, Fantastics gives its participants something in common to experience, which bonds them in a Fantastics brother/sister hood. Junior Davis Ngo agrees, and adds, “By allowing the participants to demonstrate their strengths in front of the whole school, whether it be in dance, games, or artistic capability, Fantastics really strengthens the bonds between every class as well as strengthening Charger Pride.”

“Even though Fantastics creates rivalry between classes, in the end it helps strengthen Wilcox as a whole by bringing us all together and allowing us to appreciate how great our students are and what each individual has to offer,” says Monga. “It promotes school spirit and involvement in school events, and you can never have too much of either,” she adds. “It’s an amazing experience to watch what everyone has to offer and the echo of the school spirit is trembling,” says Shoubber. During every game or event, the roaring of the crowd urges the grades on to try to win each game. “Fantastics has given Wilcox the unity and strength to become the academic powerhouse it is today,” Le explained. “It’s about seeing the gym bleed blue, green, red, and yellow, watching as a melting pot of colors clash upon each other like an exploding eruption of paint on a blank canvas.”

Overall, Fantastics is “one of the most rewarding and amazing experiences,” according to Tolosa. “The practices beforehand culminating on the night of Fantastics gave me so much class pride.” At the same time, Fantastics helps make friendships as you fight to win each game. “It’s an opportunity to formulate and solidify new or existing friendships on the road to victory with one another,” says Ngo. “Fantastics is about the exhausting dance rehearsals, a million repetitions of the same song, and the same toughness, but in the end it all pays off. It’s about gritting teeth, persevering through tough times, having the resolve to laugh through the finish line,” says Le. “Fantastics is where a class becomes a family,” recites Monga. “My past Fantastics have been nothing short of fantastic. The intensity, the tension, the spirit, the energy – I love it all! I can’t wait for this year’s Fantastics.”