Fantastics – the yearly tradition where classes of different grade levels compete to be the best. Full of week-long events, from spirit days to class yells, Fantastics is described as “an event where classes came together to show their spirit and support for each other,” says Sophomore Paolo Mallari.

For this year’s Fantastics spirit week schedule, it was BBQ Dad vs. Soccer Mom on Monday, Pajama Day on Tuesday, Fandom Day on Wednesday, Student Teacher Swap Day on Thursday, and finally Unity Day on Friday. For each day, there were also fun specialized activities to participate in. Orange Necking took place during lunch on Monday, Quad Night was from 4-8pm on Tuesday, Sister Class Yells occurred at Lunch on Wednesday, and Thursday was a “rest day” to get ready for the night of Fantastics on Friday. On Friday, unity day, students were encouraged to wear their class colors; blue for seniors, green for juniors, yellow for sophomores, and red for freshmen. As spirit points were factored into deciding the overall winner, council members encouraged their class to partake in spirit days, resulting in seniors taking first place with juniors second, sophomores third, and freshmen fourth. Over the course of the week, Fantastic shirts and tickets were also on sale at the ASB office. 

Council members from each class also provided entry tickets for the price of $2; otherwise, it would be $5 at the door. In order to participate in games or dances, wearing a Fantastics shirt was mandatory, however, it was still recommended even when watching from the stands. Fantastics shirts were on sale for $10 each, and many people found themselves buying another even when they already had one from last year. “I bought a new shirt since my old shirt was cut up and written all over, so I wanted to have a new and clean shirt,” sophomore dance choreographer Ava Lily Tran reasons.

Behind the scenes, class councils have busily prepared for the week, from long hours of banner paintings to reciting dances over and over. For example, Tran states that she “did not enjoy how much preparation Fantastics takes and how hard it was to organize,” and yet that “the night of Fantastics was very fun and felt like an adrenaline rush.” Andrew Ching, publicist of Sophomore Council, says “Creating the banner was stressful yet fun… We stayed up all night to finish but the results were rewarding.” Many agree that the banner competition was neck to neck this year since all of them were superb. The freshmen’s Lightning Mcqueen banner was bright and colorful. The sophomores took a creative approach by cutting the shape of the banner to the shape of a banana to correspond with their minion theme. The seniors’ banner had string lights going through the bottom side to resemble a scene of a night sky with city lights. Overall, the juniors took the win, with a Star Wars-themed banner that incorporated intricate brush strokes and Yoda as the focus of the artwork, with the sophomores and freshmen tied for second, and the seniors in last.

Dances, another crucial component of the competition, were entertaining as usual. The freshman captured everyone’s attention with their well-choreographed routine with lead dancers Emily Hackleman and Samara Jackson. While the sophomores took the floor away with their minion-themed dances, the juniors left us in awe with their popping and locking. Ultimately, the seniors took the win in dances as they created an innovative routine centered around their theme of Avengers. “I was of course very excited, but also nervous as I didn’t know how the dances would look [and] I felt like we weren’t as prepared compared to other classes,” says Christina Vu. Despite the setbacks during practices, Vu persevered to tie all the dances into an eye-capturing showcase in the final stage of the competition. “It was really great as this year was our second year our class won Fantastics.” 

Games were the ultimate deciding factor of Fantastics, to which each class put their fullest energy. From the snapping of the ancient rope to intense crab soccer, the games kept everyone on their toes. The jump rope relay had the loudest roars, with seniors Aubri Lee and Romin Desai zooming across the gym floor and back in a matter of seconds. 

While every Fantastics participant did an amazing job in composing spectacular dance routines and performing competitively at games, the seniors, once again, took the win for the second time as their spirit points combined with points gained from the competition exceeded that of the other classes. It’s okay juniors, maybe next year.