When you look around the Lincoln High campus on the day of Festivus, you can see students hanging out everywhere. Tables are set up with students from various clubs standing behind them selling things such as food or drinks to raise money for their respective clubs. Music is playing from a DJ booth somewhere on campus and everyone is having a good time. This is Festivus. Lincoln High’s fall festival started in 1998 and was a hit from the beginning. This year will be Lincoln High’s 19th annual fall festival.
Richard Jackson, a special education teacher here at Lincoln High, has been in charge of organizing Festivus for the past 8 years. In order to get Festivus ready in time, the teachers have to start planning and preparing for it the day that the teachers come back to school in August, the main attractions were already being planned an entire year in advance. Some of the hardest aspects of organizing Festivus are getting the DJ, the jousting arena, the rock wall and the more extravagant things set up. It is very important to know what the plan is before hand so the teachers have enough time to get all of the activities approved and ordered before it is too late.
This year there was a little hiccup in the plans because they could not use the dunk tank. The board of education said no to the dunk tank, but they let us have a rock wall, jousting, and an obstacle course. There was also another last minute change the night before Festivus, the obstacle course and the jousting arena had to move to south gym because there were going to be strong winds on the day of Festivus. The rock wall also had to move to south lot because of the wind. The staff had to rearrange their parking spots and had to park in the student lots or the Lewis Fields parking lot.
When Festivus started in 1998, it was known as the “Back to School Bash.” It was originally an opportunity for clubs to get together and fundraise by selling different things to the student body. Over the past nineteen years it has become a wonderful bonding experience for the Lincoln High community.
“It brings people together,” said Jackson. Students get to spend time with students that they normally would not be able to hang out with. They can also see teachers in a different light. In classrooms, teachers might seem to be stressed or mad, but at Festivus the teachers are relaxed and it helps students get a better idea of their actual personality. People tend to think that teachers are cold hearted and mean but then at Festivus they get to see them having fun and being themselves. There is something for everyone to do at Festivus. The football field is open for students to play football or soccer on. There are also lots of activities to do and food from the clubs to purchase.
