After four years of high-energy choreography and clever skits, the Class of ‘25 rightfully secured our crown during our senior Homecoming Quad Day performance last fall. From our debut as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to our final act as “Monopoly” this year, the grade “monopolized” the competition and left our judges in awe.
With a third-place finish our freshman year and a tie for first place with the Class of ‘23 during our “Power Rangers”-themed sophomore year, we fine-tuned our execution in junior year with the theme “Cars,” despite placing second.
But this year, we pulled out all the stops. Nearly one-third of us took part in the performance on Oct. 18, a show of school spirit that far outpaced the participation seen in younger grades — and a trademark of the Class of ‘25 since Day One.
“This Quad Day performance this past October — just the number of students that participated was wild and really, really positive,” assistant principal Kristin Cunningham said.
Cunningham attributed this impressive rise in participation to the fact that the Class of ‘25 was the first grade to return to experience a full four years of high school in-person following the COVID-19 pandemic. She mentioned how the almost two full years of isolation, a pivotal time in a teen’s development — socially and academically — led to especially positive feelings about school events like Homecoming.
“When [the Class of ‘25] came back to school in-person, [it was clear that they had a] fresh, new appreciation for school events and socials,” she said. “They didn’t overdo it, but they wanted to make sure they didn’t take [the time] for granted. And so, when they came in as freshmen, they were like, ‘We’re going to go all in.’”
Quad Day choreographer Anisa Taymuree also credited this spirit to her classmates’ sense of maintaining a balance between academics and their social lives, saying: “Not that we’re not geared academically, but we understand more the importance of coming together and taking a moment to make memories outside of academic pursuits.”
Even though we placed third in freshman year, skit leads found unique ways to differentiate the class from other grades. We unlocked unexpected “rap goddess” Rylee Stanton, who wooed the crowd every year after with her original raps. Some of her best lines were in her senior year, particularly: “We got Gen Alpha, Class of ‘28 / In middle school mode — y’all will have to wait / So sit back take notes while we hold it down / We’ll leave a legacy — but don’t touch the crown.”
But she was also spitting fire bars our sophomore year: “Yo, my name is Rylee and I’m back again / This year’s sophomore class is a 10/10 / You all try to knock us down but we get up again / And I’m getting all the bag like a Kardashian.”
From the beginning, the leads — Anushka Tadikonda, Timothy Leung, Aarushi Sharma, Niraali Garg and Rylee — also put a strong focus in making the skit easily digestible to all grades and teachers. We balanced roasts with compliments, worked to seamlessly transition from one dance to the next and focused on creating a heartfelt, but fun storyline for students and faculty to follow.
Timothy said the sophomore-year skit was a particularly noteworthy breakthrough in the group’s approach to writing, as the leads centered it around a common “enemy” across grades — MOSAIC, which was implemented that year. The skits became more sophisticated with every year that passed by, and it all culminated in the widely praised senior-year performance.
“Our goal was to bring everyone together for senior year,” Anushka said. “We wanted to make it more wholesome and to encourage class spirit in general between all the grades, because we felt that often, the grades below us did not have as much class spirit as we did.”
This idea of bringing everyone together had grown stronger and expanded over the years. The Class of ‘25 Quad Day acts slowly started incorporating different cultures and groups on campus, with participation steadily increasing. With only eight students in the Bollywood act in the ninth grade, over 40 participated as seniors. Students in the music program were featured our freshman year, for instance, while K-pop became a regular promising act.
“[The Class of ‘25] has always viewed Homecoming not just as a performance, but a community-building experience,” Timothy said. “And personally, I always feel the most bonded with my class during Homecoming because it’s everyone coming together, being creative and putting themselves out there.”
This sense of community has permeated into other aspects of school social life, whether it is attending sports events, dances or rallies: “I think you [end up] supporting each other through anything and everything — showing up to different events like senior nights … and being there for each other when it is needed,” Rylee said.
