Each year at PIHS, the Winter Carnival competition takes place among the grades. Many games take place the week of March 20, but some events are staggered. For example, “Deck the Halls” occurs this week, from Dec. 4-7. Each grade chooses a theme, spends four days decorating their hallways after school, and these hallways are judged by officials and even the public. The community can visit the school on specific nights and vote for who they think did the best. The neighboring elementary school has also taken a walkthrough. 

Each class cabinet ultimately decides on the theme, often asking for feedback from the class at large. 

This year’s themes are as follows:

Freshmen: “Monsters, Inc.”

Sophomores: “Nintendo”

Juniors: “Dr. Seuss”

Seniors: “The Evolution of Man”

Students may decorate during these time:

Monday (12/4), Tuesday and Wednesday: 2:40-8 pm

Thursday: 2:40-9 pm

The presidents of each class have the job of organizing the decorating nights.

“This year our tactic is to focus more on the smaller events [of Winter Carnival], because in the past, we have just gone big on the larger events, but had many small events that were empty. As it is our last year, we are also focusing on teamwork and bringing the class together. I would say we have more of an advantage because we have been doing it for more years and we know what to expect.” -Amelia Donovan, Class of 2024 President

“I would say that juniors have somewhat of a tactic, but most of the time it’s just chaos. We chose Dr. Seuss because we wanted to do something with sections so it was easier to fill up the hallway. In my opinion, it depends on the day for class cooperation, but we all have the same goal of getting the hallway done which brings us together.” -Fiona Wu, Class of 2025 President

“Not necessarily a tactic, but I feel like this year we want it more. It’s just hard during freshman year because no one knows anything or how things work. I hope Deck the Halls this year brings us all together. I have hope that we’ll be better prepared and have more help from class this year now that everyone knows how things work.” Keira Tompkins, Class of 2026 President

“For Deck the Halls, I feel like our only tactic right now is to try to keep everything as low stress as possible. The theme we chose is Monsters, Inc., and I feel like it’s definitely a good theme to start with because it’s easier to get supplies for just one thing.” Sabine Wells-Puckett, Class of 2027 President.

Let the games begin.