Upper school students showed their Eagle pride this week by wearing creative outfits, putting on performances and participating in class competitions. In the end, the junior class barely ousted the seniors to be crowned the most spirited class of this school year.

The week began with the annual regatta after fifth period on Monday. The first of three competitions started off with two representatives from each class racing each other in the rafting competition. One student was to paddle on the raft while another pushed it forward. Although the seniors and juniors started off with a strong lead, their rafts collided allowing, the sophomores and freshmen to make up some much needed ground. In the end, the juniors came in first, sophomores second with a 10-second penalty due to pulling their raft, seniors third and freshmen last.

The next competition was the ring toss, with the senior and freshman duo edging out the junior and sophomore duo for the win. Students and staff members then participated in the belly flop competition, in which the sophomores scored the most overall points. Both juniors in the event jumped cannonballs instead of belly flops, and no junior faculty member jumped.

Vedanth Sundaram (10) scored the most points out of all belly floppers for his class. He dressed up in a Moana-themed costume and performed a short dance routine prior to his jump.

“My volleyball coach played the Moana theme song during practice the other day, so that inspired me to wear that outfit,” Vedanth said. “When I jumped, all I honestly wanted to do was just go as far as I possibly could.”

On Wednesday, students performed in the annual Quadchella at lunch. They sang, played instruments, told jokes and danced for their large audience of teachers and fellow students.

During school meeting on Wednesday, Kristin LeBlanc (12), Katelyn Chen (10) and Thomas Rainow (10) earned gift cards for their spirited hippie outfits. History teacher Roxana Pianko was also recognized for her outfit, but did not receive a gift card. Dress up day themes for the week included ‘Murica Monday, Pajama Day Tuesday, Woodstock Wednesday, Career Day Thursday and Class Color Friday.

Students attended the spirit rally on Friday, the first time it has ever been held in the new gym. Featured performances included a faculty dance and routines from the cheerleading team and the junior varsity dance troupe. Events for the rally pitted the classes against each other in a hoops, bean bag tic-tac-toe, drag race and dance competition.

Although drag race participant Kaitlyn Nguyen (12) fell off her sheet during the event, she believes the spirited and fun experience outweighed the downsides of the mishap.

“It was the best feeling in the world,” she said. “It felt like I was flying. Even when I was being dragged across the entire length of the gym, I was having a blast, and I definitely don’t regret doing it.”

At the end of the rally, the juniors were awarded first in spirit points, the seniors second, the sophomores third and the freshmen fourth.

Rising ASB spirit coordinator Matthew Hajjar (11) believes the juniors’ success was well-deserved and a great way to wrap up the school year.

“It feels fantastic from every angle,” he said. “Our class student council worked tirelessly to promote spirit over the entirety of the year, so to finish with this amazing result is a great accomplishment on their part. I really congratulate them on being the driving force that brought our class together.”

Upcoming school events include Baccalaureate on May 23 and graduation for the Class of 2018 at the Mountain Winery on May 24.

Gallery • 14 Photos

Kathy Fang

The Class of 2021 cheers as Harker Spirit faculty advisor Eric Kallbrier announces spirit rally roll call. Today's event was held after seventh period in the athletics center.