By Maya Koeppen ’17

Each year students and teachers crowd the halls in awe at the extensively decorated and highly anticipated hallways, while those who worked on them nervously await the results. This year will prove to be no exception. Next Friday, students will leave the real world and enter into the sets of some of the most crowd-pleasing, top-grossing films of all time.

Featuring the themes of “The Dark Knight” by the seniors, “Toy Story” by the juniors, “Frozen” by the sophomores, and “Star Wars” by the freshmen, the halls are sure to bring out the movie junkie in everyone. But what goes into this tradition we’ve come to know and love? How is it judged, and how can one get involved?

School-wide Student Government Association (SGA) President, senior Zoe Sweeney, has been involved with the halls since her freshman year. “So there’s the artistic people, there’s the band people … they help out a lot,” Sweeny said in regard to this year’s senior hall.

Homecoming halls require a lot of long hours and teamwork in order have a successful final product. As a result, many classes spend time together after school and on weekends in order to complete the halls in time. During these meetings, backgrounds and props are designed, characters are assigned, music is chosen and snacks are prepared, all in preparation for the big reveal. In addition, every class spends many long hours the night before setting up the hall and finalizing last-minute details.

After weeks of hard work, the halls are ready for students and judges. “It’s always new staff [who judge], and we like them to see what Sherwood is all about,” said SGA co-sponsor Catina Wist.

Each hall is judged by a set rubric and scoring system based on different components of the hall. During the judging, staff take into account the overall presentation and student participation in the hall, as well as food, spirit and music. These results are then presented to the classes at the homecoming pep rally later in the school day.

Any student who still wants to get involved with the halls should attend class meetings and should stay updated through social media. Ask your class sponsor; it is a great way to get involved in the school community.