Led by Jackie Mayne (’28), eighth grade students participate in tug-of-war. Color Wars consisted of four activities — tug-of-war, mural decorating, door decorating and a relay race — in which students from different grade levels competed against each other to win Spirit Points. “It was really exciting because it’s just a fun way to show grade spirit, and it’s a fun way to bond with your friends,” Charlotte Stein (’26) said. “I think that the tug-of-war is always a highlight for Color Wars since we’ve been with the great rivalry, and then on the faculty comes in — I think that’s always a fun event.”

Student Body President Anaiya Asomugha (’24) prepares the tug-of-war rope for the faculty versus seniors competition. Class representatives from each grade prepared for Color Wars weeks in advance. “They have been making sure each area has signups, so that there’s good grade level participation, and there’s somebody for the mural and tug-of-war,” ninth grade Dean of Culture, Community and Belonging Stephanie Ferri said. “This was especially the case because Color Wars got rescheduled — making sure that those people could still participate in those events. So that’s one thing is that they’re making sure our grade is well represented in all of the competition areas.”

Seniors Remi Cannon, Gemma Larbalestier and Chloe Resnick create a green-themed mural for their grade. The mural had a drawing of Yoshi, a fictional gaming dinosaur character, jumping through warp pipes. “Color Wars has a lot of preparation. We start preparing around two weeks in advance when we start putting out our door, what we want to do and getting our materials ready,” Tenth grade class representative Sara Salehi said. “The real work happens on the night before. We stay after school, and we decorate the door, and we send out emails. Our main goal on the actual day of Color Wars is to hype up the grade and get people excited to get Spirit Points and have some friendly competition.”

Students and faculty gather in the courtyard to watch the last few seconds of the mural decorating competition. Each grade had a team of volunteers who worked on a mural for 10 minutes, incorporating slogans and references to their class’ color. Tenth grade placed first, and their mural featured a drawing of a big blue diamond with the slogan: “Find sophomores at Earth’s core.”

Resnick runs to the finish line while holding a spoon with an egg balancing on top for the relay race. Twelfth grade placed first in the relay race, the tug-of-war and the door decorating contests. Salehi participated in the relay race, and her role was to drink a baby bottle full of lemonade. “It was super competitive between all the grades,” Salehi said. “I think we worked really well together as a grade and with cheering each other [on].”

Systems Administrator Piero Zamora and seventh grade Dean of Culture, Community and Belonging Emily Gray lead the faculty team in a tug-of-war against the seniors. Fitness and wellness teacher Valerie Moncada said it was her first time participating in a Color Wars competition. “We just finished round one. We’re feeling strong,” Moncada said. “It is really fun. There’s a lot of spirit, a lot of colors and a lot of fun competition.”

Ninth grade celebrates placing second in tug-of-war. The week before Color Wars, class representatives from each grade sent out an email with a sign-up sheet for students to participate in the activities. “I just hope ninth grade [will] have a really good time. I am a very competitive person and typically have been very focused on Spirit Points, and now, I realize I should just shift my focus on making sure everybody’s there and having a good time,” Ferri said. “If we get a lot of Spirit Points or we win, that’s great, but it’s more about doing something together as a grade level.”

As Color Wars comes to an end, seniors gather in front of the Rose Room to take a group photo. Since this was the last Color Wars for the seniors, many stayed behind after school the day before the event to decorate their door in green one last time. “I feel a little sad, but it’s definitely ‘Go big or go home,’ and we just won the tug-of-war, so that felt really nice,” 12th grade class representative Julissa Espinoza said. “We were always talking about it with my classmates and my friends that it’s so sad that this is our last one. But I think we made the best of it. Regardless of the pandemic, we’ve made up for it.”