Leadership is hosting the Cocoa & Cram event in the school library from 3:30-5 p.m. from Dec. 11-15 to create a focused environment for students to study for upcoming final exams, Activities Director Deana Querubin said.
The event also includes free chocolate, provided by leadership, for students who are present and studying, as a way to incentivize students and to make the area feel comforting, Querubin added.
“If we want to create a college environment at school, it starts with filling up our library with students the same way college libraries are always full,” Querubin said. “We thought, ‘Let’s throw an event we can host. We’ll get people to come here and we can provide an environment that students can study in.’”
The turnout on the first day of the event has already been more than the total turnout two years ago when the event was last held, Querubin said.
“We expected that maybe five or ten people would come, but there were a good forty people here today (Monday), which was really cool,” Querubin said.
This event was previously hosted two years ago but was discontinued as the idea had not been brought up again until this year, said junior Alina Lee, who was part of the organizing team for the event.
“It’s a really cool idea,” Lee said. “I know, for myself, I need an environment where I can study, and being in the library with other students who are studying creates that environment where you just have to study. It’s calming, soothing, and just a great place to get things done.”
Seeing students all in one place being productive was conducive to senior Nidhi Bhat’s overall productivity, Bhat said.
“I think it was really nice to have that space because my house or other places are a little bit distracting,” Bhat said. “I think it is overall a beneficial event and I think it’s great that a student-led body is sponsoring events like these to help the larger student body.”
Initial concerns that the event wouldn’t work as planned or that attendance would be low seem to have been dispelled after the event’s first day, Lee said.
“Turnout was good and I was really glad that there weren’t people who were coming in and just getting the cocoa and leaving,” Lee said. “Everyone was very studious, and we achieved our mission of creating a place where students can study for finals.”