The courtyard buzzed with activity as students waited in line for baked goods, soaked up sunlight and sung along to music. While some students spontaneously broke into a rendition of “Defying Gravity,” from the hit movie-musical, “Wicked,”others snacked on sweet treats and participated in activities, led by the junior class student council representatives.
This scene was from January’s Final Friday celebration in the courtyard Friday, Jan. 31. Final Fridays at Archer usually include music, activities and food, often in the form of a bake sale fundraiser or tables of free candy, snacks and drinks. January’s Final Friday event was Pajama Day-themed, and students were encouraged to dress accordingly. All students were permitted to wear free dress, as long as they did not have any dress code violations restricting their free dress privileges.
The event also featured a bake sale, where all proceeds went to the Class of 2026’s senior prom. When Student Council was discussing a new event to add to Archer’s calendar, representative Selah Johnson (’26) described their thought process in deciding the event.
“We started to think about, well, how can we utilize that day and make it into something where we can have the community come together, do a different theme and each month [have] a different grade host,” Johnson said.
Eleventh grade Dean of Culture, Community and Belonging Stephanie Nicolard said she was impressed with the joy fostered within the Archer community.
“It’s just such a celebration of Archer’s spirit and Archer’s sense of community to get to do these Final Fridays,” Nicolard said. “The grades really get to kind of put their own fingerprint on it.”
Johnson said the recent Palisades Fire affected many Archer students’ access to uniforms, causing the dress code to temporarily become more lenient. She said the juniors wanted to gift students a final day of coziness before dress code restrictions returned to normal.
“It’s been a long January,” Johnson said. “We’re sure that everyone would love kind of one final day of relaxed dress before the dress code gets a little less lenient next week.”
The junior representatives said they made an effort to include all 11th grade students who wanted to participate in the celebration. If they were not helping with the bake sale, students could control the playlist or hang out with friends in the courtyard.
“About a week ago, we sent out an interest form for people who wanted to bring things for the bake sale,” Johnson said. “Then in the past few days, we’ve individually reached out to people.”
When talking about the event, Addie Myers (’25) said it describes the Archer community as a whole. She said she enjoyed the casual dress code and the “throwback” playlist the juniors put together, crafted towards raising spirits after the disconnect the Archer community faced over school closures.
“They are playing some really good music, I get to wear sweatpants as there’s free dress, and the people seem really happy, I think everyone gets a little bit of boost of energy, and they get to wear free dress,” Myers said. “Then usually you have something food related; it pretty much defines Archer.”
The junior representatives said that the event turned out to be a success overall, as they raised around $1500 towards the Classes of 2026 and 2027 prom in 2026. Nicolard said she feels proud to be the junior dean and spoke about her favorite part of that role.
“Watching students kind of come into their own, watching Archer girls find themselves over the course of upper school, it’s just so rewarding,” Nicolard said. “It’s just such a celebration of Archer’s spirit and Archer’s sense of community.”
