Opening with the freshman football team’s scrimmage against Stuyvesant High School, Spirit Week started strong, with the Xavier Knights taking the win. After the weekend, the festivities continued on Monday with a karaoke competition in Kennan Commons.
Tuesday morning, Mr. Malony announced that the Maroon team (Freshman and Juniors), was beating the Blue team (Sophomores and Seniors). Later that afternoon, ping pong, Mario Kart, and Fifa tournaments were held. Freshman Nick Moraillon and Ty Duffy dominated the ping pong table, winning over 20 rounds combined.
The Maroon team maintained strong performances throughout the week, earning them 200 points to start the games.
On Friday, September 27, at 8 AM, Maroon and Blue Day began. Students and faculty represented their team by wearing special M&B day shirts. These were made by senior Chris Mongelluzzo, awarding the Blue team 100 points before the day even kicked off.
The day began with homeroom parties, where classmates and teachers brought in snacks to share. Some homerooms decided to play games or put on a movie, while others allowed students to catch up with peers at the beginning of the school year.
One thing all homerooms did was create signs for M&B Day. These signs were proudly displayed as everyone began to gather in the main gym for the start of the pep rally. As students filed onto the bleachers, the Xavier Cadets and the Blue Knight Band delivered amazing performances!
When everyone was settled in, the first competition was a decibel test that the Maroon team won by just a few decibels, earning them 150 points. The sophomores and seniors got right back into it, winning 2 out of 3 games in both the Gummy Pie Eating Contest, and the Hippity Hop Relay Race. The Blue team came out of it with a 200-point lead in the two activities. That just barely put them ahead on the scoreboard, 600-550.
It took no time for the Maroon team to get those points back, winning both of the student Hungry Hippo games worth 100 points each, to put them up 750-600.
Past the halfway point of the pep rally, it looked like the Maroon team could pull away with their lead. This was not a challenge the Blue team couldn’t handle, as they immediately stepped up to their A game. They scored 1000 points in a row, winning the faculty Hungry Hippo contest, all three Tug-of-War games (Students, male faculty, and female faculty), and Basketball Headshots.
Heading into the final portion of the pep rally, the Blue team was in the lead, and they let the Maroon team hear it, chanting “Scoreboard, Scoreboard.” While the Maroon team received gold medal honors at the Animal Olympics, the Blue team got second and third place effectively canceling each other out as they both ended up with 300 points.
The fun wasn’t over yet though, as 16th Street was closed down and inflatable obstacle courses, lifesize foosball, pickleball, and spike ball were set up.
On Monday morning, Ms. Gonzalez made the official announcement that the Blue team had won Maroon and Blue Day 2024. The final tally was a convincing 1900-1125 victory.