“It looks like a winter wonderland,” is how one student described the halls of WT this week after our student council unveiled their spectacular holiday light show. Yes, it is that time of the year again. Snow falls from the sky, frost bites at our necks every time we go outside, and the stringing of lights around our school has commenced. These days all I want to do is curl up by the fire in the library with a good book (my preferred reading is The Official SAT Study Guide, no days off I guess.) It gets more tiring everyday as we weather this terrifying limbo in between Thanksgiving and winter break. 

This year something is different though, there is a new feeling of holiday spirit in the air. It can only be from one thing: the Student Council Holiday Light Show. You guys know what I am talking about; the strings of lights that wrap around our banisters and hang from the overlook on the third floor; the paper snowflakes that dangle from the ceiling. I find myself entranced by the whimsical nature of the hanging lights and snowflakes that now decorate our hallways, and I’m not the only one. The other day I found a student staring at the lights and I asked them why they were so fixated: 

“It’s just so magical. Makes me feel like I can do anything.” You go kid! That’s the charming WT spirit and optimism we hear so much about. I agree with them, it’s hard not to feel like you can conquer the world when you are surrounded by all that festive holiday cheer. 

I knew that I needed to talk with Student Council about these new decorations they were placing around the hall. I tracked down a Student Council member to get the inside scoop on the process of preparing our school for the holiday season. 

My first question: What made you guys feel the need to do this for us?

“Student council has done it in years past, and we felt that it was time for a revival. “

Where did you guys get the money for this? Lights don’t come cheap these days.

“Well due to budgeting issues we actually had no spare cash laying around to pay for these. Rather, we bartered on a secret underground holiday decoration black market in order to get our hands on these bad boys!”

What did you give away on this so-called “black market”?

“Just a couple of the 3-D printers, a few MacBooks we swiped from students, and the entire history department budget.”

Was the history department okay with this?

“We actually haven’t told them yet. I guess they will find out via this article, surprise! Happy Holidays!”

What was the process of putting these decorations up?

“It was pretty easy actually. Just some tape and a few extra hands and we got them up in no time!”

**I feel it is important for journalistic integrity to include that I in fact watched Student Council put the lights up. I feel the anonymous Student Council member may have been a bit generous in their assessment, as I watched a group of around 10 kids struggle for 30 minutes to wrap a single string of lights around a single banister. 

How come the main staircase is the only one with lights? Won’t the other staircases feel left out?

“We could only afford to get that one string of lights. To get more we would have had to throw into the bartering more computers, the English and math department’s budgets, and a few of the teachers’ cars.”

Do you have any more surprises in store for us this year? Maybe some more holiday decorations?

“Well not to spill too many secrets, but keep your eyes on Valentine’s Day and St. Patricks Day. Rumor has it that we are going to hire a bunch of leprechauns to run around the school all day and throw heavy metal coins at student’s heads.” 

Are you sure that’s safe?

“Of course, and if anyone gets hurt, Student Council is not liable because we will be hiring all the leprechauns through another black market. No paper trail!”

Do you have a final message to the student’s about the upcoming holiday season? 

“All of us here at Student Council hope the entire student body has a restful and rewarding winter break. Stay safe out there with the new omicron variant, and be sure to finish all your homework!”

There you have it folks. The Student Council light show has been a mega success, and will hopefully (fingers crossed) be continued in future years. On a serious note: Thank you Student Council for taking the time to set up these decorations! You did not have to, but it is the little things like this that make WT such an enjoyable school to attend. You guys rock and keep up the great work! 

P.S. you guys really should look into the leprechaun idea; I think that would be fun!