This Halloween, the hallways filled with nerds, jocks, Dalmatians, and rappers. Academy students, once again, went all out for one of their favorite holidays of the year. Hands Across Campus sponsored the one-dollar tag day that allowed students to wear Halloween accessories as long as they wore their school uniforms. Face paint and full costumes were not allowed, but this didn’t deter any of the students – It just made them even more creative.

The freshman class, the lowest on the high school food chain, embraced this stereotype through their costume. Suspenders and fake glasses were worn by the pig-tailed freshmen to show off their “nerd” look.

Sophomores, in a sly nudge at the freshmen nerds, wore athletic headbands and sported black paint on their cheeks. They leaned towards the opposite end of the high school food chain spectrum and became the jocks. However, the grade as a whole had trouble reaching this decision as there were two different ideas floating around. The less noticeable idea of “Noah’s Ark,” where students dressed as various animals, was seen in a few of the sophomores.

In the junior class, which holds 101 students, the consensus for their group costume was unanimous. The morning of, they cut black circles from construction paper and used black eyeliner to color their noses. Disney’s 101 Dalmatians came to life in the junior locker room.

The class of 2014 also planned to utilize the exact number of one hundred students into their group costume. Inspired by Jay-Z’s song, 99 Problems, seniors came to school in snapbacks, durags, aluminum foil “grillz”, and gold chains. Each senior wore a “Problem #X” sign on their chest, where X stood for a number 1-99. Senior Vallie Joseph led the class as Jay-Z and wore a sign that said, “I got 99 sisters and I love each one,” playing off the song’s lyrics.

The majority of each class not only came together to come up with a creative costume, but grew closer in their sisterhood. In years past, students would do their own thing and create their own costume. The class of 2014 started the tradition of group costumes during Spirit Week of their freshmen year, dressing in togas.  The teamwork of the class has broken barriers at Academy in terms of sisterhood. It is a tradition that has now reached the entire student body, to no one’s dismay.

The Hands Across Campus sponsored event also promotes philanthropy within the school, as the proceeds of Tag Day were brought to the Advancement Office for the Link Scholars Program.

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