This year, House is undergoing a variety of changes in regards to upperclassmen at Hayes.
One of the changes that many have noticed is the addition of the new House Council. The committee, containing mainly seniors, was created with the intention of collaborating on ideas for future competitions and events, as well as for the period overall.
A specific example of this brainstorming would be the addition of certain activities, such as the recent Shafer Shuffle. These activities are meant to make House more fun for upperclassmen to decrease the likelihood that juniors and seniors drop House.
“I like House Games… but [they’re] so far away,” former Steamtown member junior Stella Beisner said. “I would rather just go home.”
Reflective of the ability for upperclassmen to drop the period, a heightened number of students would much rather have that extra half-hour off of their day.
That trending value, alongside the new administration, are some of the main occasions that have pushed these changes to begin to take place. It suggests that a solution for the drop-rate numbers could be potentially inbound, making some faculty members hopeful.
“I love [the upperclassmen-only events]… I hope that they will draw more juniors and seniors to stay in House,” Lockport Dean Kelsey Wright said. “The [competitions] will be hysterical… [and give] our underclassmen something to look forward to.”
Another added incentive to this is the introduction of new graduation cords, gained from staying in House all four years throughout high school. These will be presented to those Hayes students when they graduate.
Hand-in-hand with these organizational and motivational changes, a small number of the Houses have taken to creating miniature councils of their own, such as in Fulton Creek.
“We are starting the Creek Captains Initiative, where we have leaders from each of the rooms and [they] come up with different activities and things like that… We had our first meeting [recently],” Fulton Creek Co-dean Emily Gilles said. “I think it was very exciting; some of the ideas and the passion that they had for making House a fun event for everybody.”
To help promote excitement about House in the building, two new deans have also been selected: Julieanne McClain as the dean of Prospect Hill, and Emily Gilles as a co-dean of Fulton Creek to join David White.
“I’m excited to get to start new things,” Gilles said. “I feel [that] I have a lot of school spirit… I think it’s going to be exciting to get to know more [students] in [my] House… [and in] other Houses.”
With a central focus on making House fun for everyone and increasing incentive on upperclassmen camaraderie, many new improvements have been implemented and are forecasted to continue occurring in the near future.
“All I want to say is [that] if you’re a junior or senior and you’re considering opting out I… would say stick with it,” Wright said. “Hopefully there is something that you can find, and it’s twenty-five minutes of your day. Just stick with it, and you’ll have fun.”
