Positive reaction to Souhegan’s Fang Fest even without skits

Before the week of Fang Fest, the entire Souhegan High School community waited with bated breath about how the school’s spirit week would turn out. Recent controversy over the loss of the skits as a Fang Fest tradition cast a dark cloud over the usual cheerful and excited mood seen throughout the school before the week. The decision to remove the skits and ultimately replace them with dances certainly ruffled feathers; many complained that dances were no different from skits and that skits could never be replaced. There was talk of protest through not supporting the dances and not dressing up. However, the cloud of negativity seemed to dissipate rather quickly come Monday morning, when nearly the entire school flooded in dressed from head to toe in their respective colors, and the first assembly, in which the cheers for each class are introduced and the rules for the week are laid out, went smoothly. During the assembly, senior Andi Aiken performed a song about Souhegan that she had written, sparking much enthusiasm and support from the students and faculty. The strongest reaction to the removal of the skits came from the senior class because this Fang Fest would be their last. “The seniors really stepped up after the adversity they’d faced the previous week,” chemistry teacher Sue Downer said. Downer also said it seemed the purpose of Fang Fest – bringing classes together and promoting school spirit – was brought to life this time around. Engineering teacher Paul Schlotman, who was featured in a video made by a group of students to appeal the Community Council’s decision to remove the skits, concurred with Downer, saying the overall feeling during Fang Fest was “really good for school spirit.” The students’ reactions were generally positive. Senior Shannon O’Mara said, “Everyone stepped up,” not just the seniors, allowing “everyone to really get into the Fang Fest spirit.” Community Council Communicator Kate Stover said that after the final assembly, she was “so proud to call myself a senior.” She also commended the students’ enthusiasm for dressing up and decorating hallways despite the stress from the weeks before Fang Fest, saying she was “nothing but happy with our entire school.” Many students expressed surprise at how well the week went. “We weren’t entirely sure of what Fang Fest without skits would bring us,” said junior Ryan D’Auteuil, who didn’t support the removal of the skits originally. But it turned out to be “one of, if not the most, lucrative Fang Fest any of us have experienced.” The positive reactions to Fang Fest despite the obstacle presented by removing the skits a week before the event prove that Souhegan is capable of banding together as a community in the face of adversity, a quality of which any school should be proud of. Hannah Dean is a junior at Souhegan High School in Amherst.