Staff Writer Winter Carnival at Latin is intended to be a time of pride, amusement, and friendly competition. Everyone has a chance to show off what theyʼve got, whether in Quiz Bowl or the lip syncs. It is supposed to be the time of year that brings out everyone’s school spirit and relieves some of the stress that comes with third quarter, so what was it about this year that made Winter Carnival a little bland? One of the challenges was getting spirit built in individual grades. Grade apparel was missing, and the effort to go with a grade color fell flat as well. But hey, at least the banners were funny, right? With a new set of rules and a theme of Greek mythology, the videos got a little more creative.Chris Quazzo, who helped make the sophomore banner, said,“It was really fun to make the banner, but itʼs pretty stressful: filming during free periods, finding time when the whole grade can be in the gym at the same time, trying to be funny, etc. But it’s completely worth it because it is cool when you can get each of the grades together to do something like that.” The screening of the banners is something almost everyone at Latin looks forward to; that and the lip syncs. With Miya Coleman pulling a toy bat out of her sweatpants and “bustinʼ the windows” out of someoneʼs car and Kaya Romeo, Annacka Stoeckel, Cat Sharp and Jake Schlossberg connecting with their inner Destinyʼs Child, whatʼs not to love? It couldʼve also been the strange scheduling of it all. Winter Ball was a whole week before the Carnival started. Thatʼs not to say it wasnʼt a good time; the venue was ideal and the DJ chose all the right music to play. The lack of Gatherings probably added to the lack of enthusiasm. That’s a time used to pump everyone up for Winter Carnival, and itʼs also when most of the competitions are supposed to happen. Last year we had the sixty-second challenges leading up to Winter Carnival starting from August, a chance to compete between advisories instead of grades. Without that, itʼs hard for people to get excited. Sophomore Haley Hecktman felt “there werenʼt enough opportunities to earn points for your grade, maybe more activities would make it seem like more of a competition.” Besides all the in-school activities there were three other events for students to display their talents. There were the annual Loyola-Parker basketball games, which had a big (unenthusiastic) crowd. The Drowsy Chaperone seemed to have a good turn-out; who doesnʼt want tap-dancing, subtly offensive jokes and a hot-air balloon all in one musical? We even got a chance to watch the boys’ ice hockey team play at Soldier Field, fan buses, B-block cancelled and everything! At the end of the day, Winter Carnival being a good time is on the students’ shoulders.The school is offering us this opportunity to let loose and compete against each other, but if weʼre not going to be excited about it then obviously itʼs not going to be fun. Nadja Knox, this yearʼs social chair, said,“The challenge is always going to be student involvement. Itʼs really hard for us to get time from teachers/administration/etc when attendance isnʼt very high.” So next time youʼre wondering why this yearʼs Winter Carnival was mediocre, remember itʼs all on you.”]]>