Seniors display their force in their Quad Day

Ten minutes before fifth-period classes were dismissed on Oct. 16, the temporary bleachers set up in the Quad were already packed as the remaining students attempted to squirm their way to the front. Once the first lunch bell rang, it already seemed nearly impossible to find a spot with a decent view of the anticipated senior Homecoming performance.

Throughout the lunch period, the seniors performed a multitude of energetic dances, ranging from partner to Bollywood. In one dance choreographed by seniors Nina Harris and Chloe Koon, students used masks in order to replicate a hip-hop style.

Because the class has gymnasts, there was a girls stunt dance involving several backflips and splits, also choreographed by Harris and Koon. The duo led the partner dance as well.

A handful of boys choreographed their own stunt dance, which consisted of mainly hip-hop styled jumps and positions.

In total, between 250 to 300 seniors participated, as opposed to previous years when there were 100 to 200 participants.

“The large number of people participating in Quad Day this year really promoted classes unity among students and made the experience even better,” senior Kanaai Shah said. “It made the experience even better because we spent the last week or so with everyone from our grade.”  

Nearly 25 seniors from band began the show with a melodious rendition of the “Star Wars” theme song. At the end of the performance, almost 30 seniors demonstrated their vocal talents while singing a harmony of “21 Guns.”

The seniors also took advantage of their robotics team’s talents with their animated replica of R2D2, a Star Wars robot.

“I’ve spent the last four years of my life building robots through MSET and the seniors in robotics thought it would be the perfect way to be a part of Homecoming and give back to our class,” senior Kabir Manghnani said. “Once it was all built, we started coding and doing test runs.”

By the Sunday of decorations weekend, the last day before Homecoming week, the robot was ready to be painted “with the help of people a little more artistically skilled,” he said.

Throughout the lunch period, the seniors took the roles of Star Wars protagonists who were trying to save Princess Leia, played by senior Darby Williams. Seniors Saro Acharya played Han Solo, Nathan Ney was Darth Vader and Anne Rollinson,  C3PO. Senior Luke Salin, who, naturally, played Luke Skywalker, was especially involved in the performances, participating in four dances in addition to the finale.

Although most students are familiar with “Star Wars,” the seniors still managed to make their performance original while turning serious scenes into cute and memorable ones that students enjoyed.

The seniors earned second place for their Quad Day performance behind the juniors and first place for overall Homecoming with 489 points, followed by the juniors with 476 points, the sophomores with 404 points and the freshmen with 364 points. The points were determined based on a combination of judges’ opinions on each class’s decorations and Quad Day performance.

Although the seniors did not win first for the performance, the student body still seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

“I really liked [the performance],” sophomore Mervi Tan said. “I thought the dances were really good, and so was the singing. It was extremely unique, and R2D2 was probably the best part.”

The seniors also placed emphasis on the newly formed friendship between the junior and senior class, pointing out the support that the two classes have shared for each other.

“It’s absolutely amazing how this year the competition has turned into camaraderie,” junior Mitali Shanbhag said. “By specifically telling the whole school how much this relationship has strengthened during their Quad Day, they really showed what Homecoming is truly about: spirit, not competition. It makes SHS so much stronger.”