PHS has halls full of heroes

Competition is always tough when Pittsburg High School students decorate their respective class hallways at the beginning of fall homecoming week, and Monday’s event was no different.

“This is a very good turnout,” said Student Government Executive Director Isis Ruiz as she looked up and down the senior hallway from the ladder she was using to hang wire supports for the “Bat Cave” they were transforming their hallway into. “When the students come in from sports practice, we’re going to have another big wave of kids.”

This year’s theme is “Superheroes” — last year’s was Harry Potter — because it was a popular consensus among StuGo members, Ruiz said. Last year’s junior class won the annual Powder Puff football game, but the seniors won the hall prize. This year, Ruiz said, her class wants it all.

“It’s the pride of winning,” she said. “We get bragging rights. This year it’s going to be seniors and seniors.”

The seniors aren’t the only class that wants to win, though. Over in the junior class hallway, students were putting up decorations depicting Spider-Man saving New York from villains.

“Last year we got second place,” junior Reece Burnes said as he hung paper depicting a night sky over the hall lights. “We really want to beat the seniors. It’s a pretty competitive week for everyone, overall.”

Junior Cole Hamblin agreed.

“It’s fun, and it’s class spirit,” Hamblin said. “It’s our competitive thing.”

Burns said it was a chance the class to prove itself.

“It shows we’re more than just a big group of kids who are the same age,” he said. “Last year we were more disorganized. It’s better this year because people have been able to find more things to use and more stuff to bring.”

But don’t put the lower classes down just yet. Freshman Violet Biggs said her class may not be as organized as the upper classes, but when it comes to decorating their hallway, they have heart.

“It’s going to be pretty awesome when it’s done,” said Biggs, whose brother, Patrick, was fueling a bit of a sibling rivalry over in the sophomore hall. “It’s a sense of pride. The freshmen are always the newbies, and this is a way to say ‘Hey, we can do a lot more than you think.”

The sophomores also were using a combination of Spider-Man and Captain America as their theme.

“We couldn’t decide between the two, so we just decided to do both,” sophomore Kaylie Duncan said. “It’s very important to win.”

With a three-day school week because of parent-teacher conferences, Duncan said the administration almost decided not to host the hall decorating contest.

“Too many people got mad about that,” Duncan said. “The competition is so high because the seniors always win.”

Duncan’s friend, Jasmine Thomas, said she does it for the fun it entails.

“I do it for the school spirit,” she said. “People are coming to see what you did and appreciate that you took the time to do it.”

Even if the sophomores don’t win, Thomas said her class would win one day.

“Come back when we’re seniors and see what we do,” she said.