Now adorned with hues from every shade of the color spectrum, North Penn High School’s hallways are decorated with the annual light bulb hanging just in time for the Christmas festivities. The week before the winter reprieve, the SGA community and other volunteers string the flourescent paper bulbs upon the walls in recognition of the tight knit community at North Penn. Every student, every teacher, and every staff member is recognized with a colored paper light bulb. With the Winter Holiday looming in the horizon, these light bulbs are a friendly reminder to students and staff as they walked in on Friday morning that the bestial twelve day break is almost here.
Ms. Amy Young, SGA co-adviser, recognizes the importance of highlighting each individual within the school.
“This tradition is important because it is something that everyone looks forward to each year and it’s a way to individually recognize every member of our school community. It’s great seeing students and staff walk through the halls looking for ‘their’ light bulb and getting excited when they actually find it in the thousands that are hanging. It’s just a fun & festive way to celebrate the holiday season & upcoming winter break and plus, it’s exciting to be able to actually take your light bulb down at the end of the week. I know many teachers who have collected theirs over the years, myself included, and have them displayed in classrooms,” said Young.
Hanging the personalized light bulbs, a tradition for many years, was first implemented by Mr. Jim Finnemeyer, a former teacher of history, adviser of SGA, and director of student activities for almost five decades. After starting his advisory of SGA in 1971, Finnemeyer introduced the idea of personally recognizing every member of the North Penn community by writing each name upon a colored light bulb and putting them on display for the high school.
Finnemeyer’s legacy of the light bulb hanging continues today and not without mass legitimacy. These decorations are a definitive annual event that many look forward to. However, the behind the scenes process of creating these seemingly simple light bulbs arrive with definite difficulties. Thousands of the generic light bulb outlines are photocopied weeks in advance of the hanging. Members of SGA take home a portion of North Penn’s roster to cut, hole-punch, and write their assigned names upon the light bulbs. These completed light bulbs are assorted together and then strung and hung the Thursday afternoon before Winter Break. Clips are scavenged from years past to avoid the many fire code violations threatening the light bulb hanging. Scissors, chairs, and hole-punchers are passed ‘round the school in order to finish the holy hanging before dinner time.
Young knows full well some of the obstacles the advisers, SGA members, and volunteers have to overcome during the tedious process.
“The time factor is huge with this project each year. From getting copies made, to writing names, to cutting out the light bulbs, to finally stringing and hanging them up, it takes weeks from start to finish. This tradition could not take place without the SGA cabinet and Senate members dedicating hours of time to make it happen. Each year we learn something new. From fire code regulations to knowing exactly how many clips we need for the walls, it’s still a work in progress from year to year but a tradition that is well worth it,” explained Young.
Finally the light bulbs are hung and certainly have come a long way, from an uncut paper to a decorative design on the wall. But remember not to tear down your light bulb until Friday.
