This year is North Harford’s second annual door decorating contest. It’s held during those few weeks before Christmas, and it’s a festive way to get excited for the holidays. Homeroom teachers gather supplies for their homerooms to decorate over those few weeks and get the students involved in the fun. There is also a lot of rivalry between some of the homerooms.
Assistant Principal Mrs. Kristina Marzullo says this year’s theme is “Wishing you a HAWK-tastic Holiday Season.” Marzullo says, “it’s organized by grade levels, and the winning homerooms get a pizza party.” This will be held on Dec. 20 during lunch.
The scoring is separated into categories, including visual impact, craftsmanship, completeness, and originality/creativity theme. The doors are judged the week of Dec. 16 by all the department chairs.
One of the winners last year, English teacher Mr. David Orth, says last year, they did a Christmas tree with a train and presents under it. He says, “last year one student 3D-printed a tree topper.” Orth says this year they plan on “recreating the Pylesville tractor parade.” He says he “doesn’t know if they will win again this year, but we’re gonna try.”
Ms. Brittney Smith, one of the new English teachers this year, says her homeroom’s idea was to “[make] a tree and each student did their handprint with paper.”
Smith says she usually doesn’t like the idea of door decorating, but, “this is the first time there seems to be a lot of student involvement and participation.” At her old school, she says, they used to do door decorating; however,“it was harder to get the same amount of kids interested.” Overall, Smith says, “it was fun seeing everyone be creative and just enjoy the activity.”
Freshman Gabby Panessa is in Spanish teacher Mrs. Mary Capellan’s homeroom, and says their theme is a twist on the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” However, their version is called “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Hawk.” She says they could have a chance in winning, but don’t think they will.