The weeks leading up to winter break can be some of the most painful school days. The cramming of tests, the amount of work, and the longing for the holidays make the weeks dreadful. The leadership classes are looking to close the door on that narrative by creating a holiday door-decorating contest to brighten up the North Penn hallways and students’ moods. 

The door decorating contest, implemented by the leadership classes, ends Monday, December 19th, when the judging begins. Judging will continue through the week, and the winner will be announced at the end of the week. The winning door wins Yum-Yum donuts for their Knight Time. 

“The leadership class started it and is running it. Students are decorating doors all through December up until Monday, December 19th; then, on the 19th, 20th, and 21st, during our classes, the students will judge the doors, and administration and the principals will also have a say on the winning doors,” Mrs. Katie Grunmeier explained.  

The judges will be looking for the most creative door that implements inclusivity and, of course, the holiday spirit. 

“I’m really leaving the judging up to our classes. I do know they really want it student-centered and not teachers doing all of the work. We are also looking for creativity and inclusiveness and people that are having fun with it and some school spirit,” Grunmeier said. 

A group of students presented the idea for the decorating contest in class as a part of their student-run projects. The goal is to bring school and holiday spirit back into North Penn especially following the Covid years. 

“In our leadership class, we have student-run projects. Students have to come up with the idea that’s going to help our school or district. So part of their project and grade in the class is running a school improvement program or project of any sort. One of the groups took on a door decorating contest to increase school spirit. It is one group, but the whole class has been helping,” Grunmeier explained. 

This school-wide contest did come with some obstacles for the leadership students. Student participation and motivation on spirit days and school activities, like the door decorating contest, has been meager since Covid, and bringing student excitement back was a bit challenging.

“I think it has been a learning process for the kids on organization and follow through and also trying to get people motivated. Our school hasn’t done a door decorating contest or anything like that for quite a few years, and to get people involved, we definitely ran into a few bumps, but most people have been appreciative and on board to brighten our hallways,” Grunmeier explained. 

Another stressful piece was getting it approved and figuring out the guidelines with school principals and administrators, especially since it was the first time the students had done something like this alone. 

“The group of students came up with the idea, but then they proposed the idea to Mr. Hassler, worked with Mrs. Schoppe and Mr. Gross to finalize the rules and regulations for Knight Times to follow, then communicated everything with the teachers. That part was a bit new and, at times, stressful for them as the first time taking it on themselves,” Grunmeier said. 

The student response to the contest has been very positive, with many classes participating, hoping to win. With its success, the leadership class hopes to continue this to bring happiness to the halls of North Penn for years to come. 

“We look to certainly continue it, but we will see. I think it’s something to add to our school to make it more festive and fun here, especially during this time of year, ” Grunmeier exclaimed.

Results of the door-decorating contest will be updated here when the results are announced at the end of the week.