With Trojan Olympics (T.O.) right around the corner, the classes kick-started T.O. season by decorating the sophomore lane on March 18th after school. The lane was scattered with a variety of decorations: a giant “Star Wars” ship, a life-sized “Candy Kart,” a “Spiderman,” a styrofoam Lettie Lutz, and many other statement decorations. Speakers blasting music brought a lively atmosphere to the event.
The seniors chose “Star Wars” as their T.O. theme to differ from their streak of cartoonish themes in the past few years, class of 2026 Secretary Kaylynn Dang said.
“(The class of) 2025 had such a big impact with ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,'” Dang said. “We wanted to end with something big.”
It is important to use a lot of different textures and materials when decorating the lane, instead of just cardboard or styrofoam, class of 2026 Treasurer Kate Cao said.
“In our lane, we have fake fruits and stuff,” Cao said. “I think that really adds to this market aspect that we’re trying to go for.”
In addition to 3-D decorations, much of the lane was sprinkled with colorful, hand-drawn chalk art of characters, spiderwebs, and more.
At first, the juniors were not sure what theme to choose, class of 2027 Vice President Kayla Atud said. They settled on “Wreck It Ralph” because there was a lot of potential with the characters and candy from the franchise, she said.
“We also thought about doing ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Avatar,’ but we were very focused on the colorful (aspect) and diversity,” Atud said.
The sophomores’ decoration has vastly improved from the previous year, class of 2028 Vice President Ethan Pham said.
“Last year we didn’t have a lot of filler decoration, so it was mostly just foam boards on the poles,” Pham said.
This year, each class had to work inside the library, which gave them less space to work in, Pham said.
“It was fun to collaborate with other classes in case one of us needed help, and we guided each other through it,” Pham said.
Having everyone and every decoration in one space was chaotic, and they had to keep the area really clean, Dang said.
“It takes away from the surprise factor of the other classes,” Dang said. “I wish it were kept more hidden.”
Homecoming gave the freshmen a lot of experience in preparation for Trojan Olympics, class of 2029 Commissioner Ayse Bakmaz said.
“I’m less stressed right now, and it (deco day builds) a good community bond,” Bakmaz said.
The class of 2029 wanted to choose a musical as their theme because the dance would be easier to choreograph, Bakmaz said. They liked the idea of “The Greatest Showman” as a theme because of the range of characters in the movie, she added.
“We really like the inclusivity and the message that it spreads,” Bakmaz said.
Bakmaz is very hyped for Trojan Olympics, she said.
“I know it’s supposed to be a competition, but to me, I’m just really grateful that our school can bring this much spirit and do all this awesome stuff,” Bakmaz said. “I’m very excited for the other classes.”
