STUCO Carnival Q&A

Westminster’s carnival is the time of year where students from all grades get to partake in fun fall festivities. With food, games, rides, and a football game, the event lasts from Friday night until early Saturday afternoon, ending with a parent-sponsored homecoming dance Saturday evening for high school students. 

This event, while a fun time for community bonding, is a time-consuming effort to plan. As a Student Council officer myself, I know that events like carnival take weeks and many helping hands to get done. There were 5 different committees involved in planning homecoming: Food Booths, Game Booths, Publicity, Volunteer Coordination, and Dog Show. Each committee has a director and many officers and members working with them to accomplish the goal. I asked some of my fellow committee directors what it looked like to run their aspect of homecoming weekend.

Emma Yost, Homecoming Publicity Committee Co-Director:

Q: What is your main role in directing a committee?

A: “My main role as director of HOCO publicity is planning, organizing, and overseeing all the flyers, banners, and posters that go up. My goal is to spread the word about Homecoming weekend and all the fun activities that are included.”

Q: What is the hardest part of doing publicity for such a big event?

A: “The hardest part is making sure all the posters and banners are put up and for everyone to be aware of this event. It also has been hard getting it all done in time because there are so many that need to be made to go around the whole school.”

Kaitlyn Mann, Dog Show Committee Director:

Q: How many people were a part of your committee?

A: “In total, there are 10 people a part of the Dog Show Committee, and then our wonderful sponsor Mr. Maloy. The majority of the people in the committee are STUCO Members.”

Q: What is your main role in directing the dog show committee?

A: “My main role in directing the dog show committee is setting the trajectory of the event. To be more specific, my main duties are setting the agendas for every meeting, delegating what needs to be accomplished, and keeping tabs on all operations within the committee.”

Hailey Pritchett, Homecoming Volunteer Coordination Director:

Q: How many volunteers were initially needed to help out at Carnival?

A: “We needed 216 slots filled for Friday and Saturday combined…. it’s a lot, I know!”

Q: Is there anything people should know about the planning STUCO puts into Carnival as a whole?

A: “It’s important for people to know that this is a lot of student led planning with student directors who create committee agendas and delegate work. Also, committee directors have had to spend a lot of personal time outside of meetings to get everything ready, so don’t forget to thank your stuco officers who worked very hard for this weekend!”

As you heard from these committee directors, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into planning an event as large and detailed as Carnival. As far as food booths, there will be Smoothie King, pretzels, waffles, and Ted Drewes