Winterfest

"Either do or don't do. Try is not an option."

As I venture into something new, the voice of my father saying these words pops into by head. My dad is one the most important people in my life and he always supports my decisions.

What is my latest adventure? Becoming the public relations officer for the Carson High School student council.

For the last few years, my career focus has been on photography, but last year, that all changed. I started writing for school, as well as for fun. Writing became a part of my life. That's when I decided to make journalism the career of my choice.

As a member of the newspaper staff, I have the opportunity to write. This PR position gives me a greater opportunity to write about what I care about, like our school, and activities student council puts together, such as fundraisers, community service and, of course, dances.

Dances are some of the most exciting events during high school - for most students anyway. Our latest dance project is Winterfest, a winter/basketball version of Homecoming.

Unlike the popular fall dance, the juniors of student council control this one. This year's theme, Battle of the Sexes, was presented to the committee chairs by senior class president, Nicole Carlevato. For each activity during Winterfest week, points will be given to either the boys or the girls, and whoever has the most points at the end of the week wins.

There is no official prize for winning, just the right to boast to your classmates that you are, in fact, the more dominant gender.

New and exciting activities await the students of CHS this week. A scavenger hunt will be held Thursday. Teams are divided into boys and girls.

Each team starts with a clue, which will lead them to another clue and so on, finally bringing them to the final meeting place. The winning team gets a pizza party.

Another, and possibly one of the favorite activities this year, is the creative date contest. As seen on the popular TV show Laguna Beach, students, both boys and girls, have the opportunity to ask their date to the dance in a creative way. Pictures or videos will be sent to student council to be judged.

Prizes include two dance tickets, dinner for two at Garabaldi's, and ice cream for two at Baskin Robins and Cold Stone. Many submissions have already been made, including one brave young man asking his girlfriend through the morning announcements.

These new activities will hopefully continue as a tradition through the rest of our high school years. Heaps of time and effort have been put into this dance and it promises to be a great one.

This week's activities are:

Monday: Class color day

Tuesday: Senator Pride Day. Winterfest basketball game vs. Wooster. Girls play at 5:15 p.m., boys at 7 p.m.

Wednesday: Sports Teams Day; Movie Night at 6 p.m.

Thursday: Switch Sexes Day; Scavenger Hunt at 6:30 p.m.

Friday: Pink and Blue Shirt day; Assembly where king and queen will be announced

Saturday: Dance

• Kelsey Dockery is the public relations officer for Carson High School's student council. Her column will feature activities at the school.