The widespread displacement caused by the pandemic brought about many changes including the end to many beloved Stallion traditions. For this up and coming school year, the SJHHS motto is “return to tradition”.
The leading force behind this movement is ASB President, Carson De’Filippo, who made bringing back traditions an essential point in his 2023 ASB campaign.
“Hopefully we can heighten up the school spirit with better spirit days and more active ASB. I really want to bring back the spring dance, Dance or Dye,” said De’Filippo in an interview from his junior year, only days after securing his position as the current ASB President.
Carson explains that what initially inspired him to bring back traditions are the old posters in the library promoting various activities including the Back to School Dance and Dance or Dye.
“Past teachers love it, past students love it, and so I want us to love it just as much,” said De’Filippo.
Flashforward to today, the Back to School Glow Dance has made a triumphant return. In previous years, the Glow Dance was a classic post-football game event that kicked off the new school year on a positive note.
Much like the rest of the senior class, De’Filippo has never experienced these classic traditions that are considered San Juan Hills necessities.
“To be perfectly honest, I had no idea the back to school dance was a tradition until now. But, I am happy that we are returning to normality,” said senior Zakiah Sasay.
Another big contributor to this return to tradition is Activities Director, Brooke Valderrama. Valderrama explains that she has been wanting to bring back various traditions including the Battle of the Bands and the Back to School Dance for some time now.
“I think we’re pretty much up to date as of now,” said Valderrama.
Other classes including Newspaper plan to bring back tradition by reimplementing the distribution of print edition newspapers during first period tutorials. In-person distributions are an exciting tradition that Newspaper is bringing back for the first time in three years.
“I’m excited about my students hand delivering newspapers to every classroom on campus at the same time instead of kids picking them up in their English or history class,” said Newspaper teacher Bill Kaiser.
The reimplementation of traditions including the Back to School Dance and in-person newspaper distributions are a representation of the resilience and strength of San Juan Hills after the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although SJHHS is reportedly up to date on old traditions as of now, it would be in the best interest of the student body to continue making even more traditions for future generations to come.
