Green, yellow, red, and blue hues fill the bleachers as students prepare for the start of the most spirited week at AGHS, Greek Week. All grades battle it out to see who the “best” class is, earning bragging rights as their trophy.
Greek Week kicked off last week, but classes gained points prior. T-shirt sales and previously won rally activities helped the freshmen (Poseidon) get into first place to start Greek Week with 970 points. Sophomores (Ares) trailed with 735 points, and the juniors (Apollo) and seniors (Aphrodite) closely followed with 700 points, tied for last.
Day 1: Tug-Of-War
The first event of the week was Tug-Of-War. Located on the football field, the first round featured selected girls from each grade battling for 150 points. Juniors tugged their way to 150 points. Next came the boys’ round, also for 150 points. These points were awarded to the sophomores, keeping them in second place and gaining on the freshmen. The final round of Tug-Of-War was coed, where each grade had five girls and five boys, with 200 points awarded to the winning team. This round lasted the longest, with each grade having a close call on winning. However, juniors won, receiving 200 points for their class.
People on the field were crucial to points earned, but people in the stands also won their class points. The freshmen earned fourth place for spirit, giving their grade 25 points. Seniors earned 50 points for their spirit, placing third. Then came the juniors, receiving 100 points for their spirit. The spirit winners for Day One were the sophomores, who chanted and cheered their way to 200 points.
Select students from each grade created a banner to represent their class. Teachers scored the banners and awarded points. The freshmen got fourth place in the banner contest, which gave them 50 points. The sophomores got 100 points for placing third. Next came the juniors, who placed second, earning 150 points. The seniors won the art banner contest, adding 200 points to their score. Recycling Wars was another competition where students brought bottles and cans and put them in their designated class bins. Juniors won the Recycling Wars on Day One, which gave them 75 more points.
Day 1 Point Totals:
Freshmen: 1,045 points
Sophomores: 1,185 points
Juniors: 1,375 points
Seniors: 950 points
Day 2: Academic Decathlon
The second event of the week was the Academic Decathlon. Each class picks ten people they believe will know the most Jeopardy-style questions. The juniors and sophomores ended up the only two classes with points in the positives, making them the only ones to move on to the final round. Both classes bet all their points in Final Jeopardy. The question was, “How many toilets are on AGHS campus, minus the district office and the Clark Center.” The closest class to the correct number earned the points they bet. The juniors guessed 36 toilets, while the sophomores guessed 41 toilets. The actual answer was 84, which meant the sophomores won the Academic Decathlon, awarding their grade 500 points. The juniors got second place, earning 400 points; the freshmen got third, earning 300 points; and the seniors got fourth, earning 200 points.
Students who weren’t participating in the event were again scored for their spirit. The juniors were awarded first place with 200 points. The sophomores earned 100 points for second. Next came the seniors, who earned 50 points. The freshmen came in fourth for spirit once again and earned 25 points. Seniors won the Recycling Wars for Day Two, giving them an extra 75 points.
Day 2 Point Totals:
Freshmen: 1,370 points
Sophomores: 1,785 points
Juniors: 1,975 points
Seniors: 1,370 points
Day 3: T.E.A.M. event
The third event of the week was the T.E.A.M. event, which consisted of four mini-games.
The first game requires five people to use teamwork to complete a task. This task was called “Slither.IO” and required 5 participants to hold balloons between their bodies while holding a PVC pipe above their heads the whole time. They shuffled across the gym, and once the PVC pipe touched the wall, they could let go and pass their balloons to the person in front. That person placed one balloon under them and sat on the chair to pop it, repeating that five times. Whoever won this first game would be awarded 125 points. It was a close race, but the sophomores used teamwork to win their class points.
The second mini-game, “Chilly Dawgs,” tested one participant’s endurance. The chosen participant from each class had 90 seconds to get as many marbles out of an ice water bowl using only their feet. Whoever won this event would be awarded 125 points. Participants tried to grab the most marbles, but ultimately, the seniors’ feet could endure the cold and grab the most marbles.
The third mini-game tested participants’ accuracy, called “Flip-’N-Throw.” This event required two participants from each class. One participant drank a water bottle until they had enough water to flip it. Once they landed the flip, the other participant would have to take off their shoe and throw it, knocking down the bottle. The “thrower” was the only one who could retrieve their shoes. The duo who knocked over two water bottles first received 125 points. The seniors were the most accurate and received 125 more points.
The last mini-game was an eating contest. Four chosen participants from each class were required to eat a different food as fast as they could. Each food represented a class’s color—blue pancakes for Poseidon, spicy noodles for Ares, lemonade for Apollo, and a whole head of lettuce for Aphrodite. One participant would need to finish their food before the next person could start. Seniors completed all their food first, receiving 125 more points.
Success encouraged senior spirit, and they won the 200 spirit points for the day. Sophomores came in second, earning 100 points. Next came the juniors, receiving 50 points. Freshmen came in fourth, receiving 25 points. Juniors won Recycling Wars for the second time, earning 75 extra points.
Day 3 Points Totals:
Freshmen: 1,395 points
Sophomores: 2,010 points
Juniors: 2,100 points
Seniors: 1,850 points
Day 4: Capture The Flag
Day Four featured an event called Capture the Flag, where participants ran across another class’s designated area and tried to capture their flag without getting tagged. The girls’ round was first, and they had five minutes to capture another team’s flag. At the end of time, no flag was captured, and it was decided to move on to the next round. The boys’ round also ended with no flag captured, and it moved on to the next, which was coed. This round had a three-way tie at the end of the 5 minutes. Another coed round commenced to try and end the tie, but nobody captured a flag at the end of time. This led to a race being held to end ties in each category. For the boys and girls race, one person would be chosen from the team of people from Capture The Flag. This person lined up on the line, lying flat on their stomach. With the word “go,” the participants jumped to their feet and ran to their “flag.” They grabbed the “flag” and ran back to where they started. Whoever got back first with their “flag” wins 150 points for their team. The same thing happens in the coed round, but two people are chosen, and they hand off the “flag.” This round is also worth 200 points. The girls’ round went to the juniors, who chose Sofia Kardel (‘25) to represent their team. The seniors chose Brandon Butler (‘24), who won the boys’ round. The freshmen won the coed round; Jackson Ralph (‘27) and Lily Norcross (‘27) were chosen for this round.
Spirit was high during this chaotic event, but seniors cheered the loudest, earning 200 points. Juniors came in second, earning 100 points. Freshmen got third place, with 50 points. Sophomores received 25 points for their spirit. Juniors won Recycling Wars for the third time, earning 75 more points.
Day 4 Point Totals:
Freshmen: 1,620 points
Sophomores: 2,060 points
Juniors: 2,425 points
Seniors: 2,200 points
Day 5: Boat Regatta
The last event of the week was the Boat Regatta, where students build boats out of materials like cardboard and duct tape and race across the pool with paddles. The beginning of this event consists of entries for the open category. The winner of this category was a six-person boat that consisted of six senior boys in the band, all wearing Starbucks aprons. Their boat was also chosen to be featured as the senior boat for the round for points. Although this boat was the fastest in the open category, the sophomore boat beat them in the official class race, earning 500 points. The seniors were second, earning 400 points. The junior and freshman boats sank and received zero points for failing to finish the race.
Everybody cheered and chanted, but the juniors brought their all, earning their class 200 points for their spirit. Seniors came in second place for spirit, receiving 100 points. Then came the sophomores, who received 50 points for their spirit. Freshmen came in fourth place, earning 25 points. Penny Wars also ended on Friday, and freshmen received 500 points for getting first place. The sophomores came in second place with 400 points. The juniors were next and received 300 points. The seniors received the most cash sabotage in their box, which put them in last place, where they received 200 points—Penny Wars raised over $2,033 for 17 Strong. Juniors won 75 points for Recycling Wars again. At the end of the week, Recycling Wars received 6,000 cans, which profits will go to the Environmental Club.
All the points were added up, and the winner of Greek Week was announced at the end of the Boat Regatta. Coming in fourth place was the freshmen with 2,170 points. The seniors received third place with 2,900 points. Second place went to the sophomores with 2,985 points—if they would’ve sold four more shirts, they would’ve been the first sophomore class to win. With a total of 3,000 points, the Junior class was the 2024 Greek Week champion.
This is the third time juniors have won in the history of AGHS Greek Week— Apollo has won twice as juniors. The Class of 2025 will go down in history as one of the few to beat the seniors in their junior year.
