Dress for Success at SHS ~ Upperclassmen Share their Ideas with the Class of 2018!
by Sarah Serdy, SHS Class of 2016
A famous fashion designer once said, “Life’s too short to wear boring clothes”, and at Sandwich High School, everyone’s fashion sense is recognized and respected. However, all students are expected to follow specific guidelines in order to remain dignified and have a successful learning experience. For incoming freshman, it’s important to begin giving them helpful advice as soon as they walk in to set them on the right path for the rest of their high school career.
Reading a verbatim “code of rules” to thirteen and fourteen year olds at their Freshman Orientation Night does not always help get the message across. In fact, it can be tiresome and make them less apt to follow them. So instead, a group of SHS Peer Leaders and I decided to put on a fashion show that we named, “Dress For Success at SHS”. This fashion show hit all the major rules in a humorous, yet informative manner!
In order to pull this whole act together, we needed several people to volunteer. Luckily, there were lots of willing “models” that were up for the task. We had to contact each person individually and assign them a rule to portray the dress code in either the correct or incorrect way. From there, they had to create their own outfit, which then had to get approved in order to be worn. We had no rehearsals before we presented it to the entire freshman class and their parents. There was no opportunity for all of us to get together as a group and run through it. With little preparation, it was extremely difficult to pull together, but thankfully, the whole group was great at improvising and it went smoothly.
Overall, I think presenting dress code rules in a visual way was much more entertaining and helpful to the incoming freshmen. This fashion show provided a lot of laughs. Whether it was a model dressed head to toe in ski gear or a model dressed in a lifeguard outfit, each person took on the character and showed confidence up on stage doing such a silly thing. I believe this made the incoming freshmen feel more at ease. If a junior or senior is up on stage doing a ridiculous presentation with confidence, then hopefully, freshmen will easily feel more at home and comfortable with their fellow peers at school. This fashion show was definitely made to educate new students in a positive, fun manner, but also to welcome them to the cheerful, eager, and all around amazing atmosphere of our school.