UPDATE, Oct. 23: After judges evaluated the floats during half-time of the homecoming game, student leadership announced that the freshmen had won third place. The seniors came in first; the juniors, in second; and the sophomores, in fourth.

As first-time float builders, the freshmen face difficulties in planning, gathering supplies and executing the construction of their homecoming project. In accordance with the holiday theme, the class is portraying Veterans Day.

The freshmen met for the first time on Oct. 2, at the home of Tynin Fries’ grandparents. They started by cementing an idea for the overall look of the float, then chose character assignments, created costume designs and developed a list of needed materials. Twenty people showed up to the five-hour labor event.

The freshmen decided that Chloe Duerr would represent the main soldier on the float. After the first meeting, Duerr has no doubt that her class will be able to complete a successful float, she said.

?Most people will assume that just because we’re freshmen, we’ll slack off and mess around, but we’re actually getting it done,” Duerr said. ?It feels kind of good to go against what everyone says, because it’s not fun to be stereotyped when it doesn’t apply to you.?

Despite some setbacks, the freshmen accomplished the majority of the planning involved and have completed two painting jobs. Eric Cowin was pleased with the amount of work his class finished, he said.

“I thought that we were pretty productive,” Cowin said. ?We had an organized work system that worked well. Although we still need a lot more materials, I’m sure that once we have them all, we will be fine. I’m really hoping our float will turn out well.?

The freshmen concluded the meeting by dividing up the list of needed materials. Specific items were assigned to each person to ensure everything would be present for the next meeting.

Though the event was well attended, some students did not echo their peers’ enthusiasm. Princess nominee Elora Hargis said she wanted to get involved, but ended up leaving after a half hour.

?I went, but everything was hectic, and nothing was happening,” Hargis said. “I don’t think the float will be that good, because we were disorganized and didn’t have enough materials.?

At the second meeting on Oct. 9, the freshmen began to pick up the pace. Fries organized the freshman class into different groups, each assigned to a separate project. This enabled the class to complete a large portion of the float, she said.

Through their more efficient organizational methods, Jon Agao said the freshmen achieved a greater class cohesiveness at this second meeting.

“I think we did better than last time because we got more done,” Agao said. “We spray-painted most of the float, and we worked really well together.”

In addition to painting the plywood backdrop, the freshmen secured it onto the float, filled forty sandbags with dirt and began to arrange various accessories. Dustin Swain saw good progress in this meeting, compared to the last, he said.

?It went way smoother than the last one because we actually had a game plan, and everything was figured out,? Swain said. ?Once we got all the supplies, it was really easy, and we got everything done pretty fast.?

Some freshmen are unable to contribute due to extracurricular activities on the weekends. Since he is required to work at the farmers market every weekend, Josh Thao could not attend float meetings.

?I didn’t go to the float meeting because, on the weekends, I’m always working, so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t,? Thao said. ?I don’t regret that I can’t go. I don’t really care about floats. I still want it to turn out well, but I’m not going to go to the meetings.?

As part of the float-building process is learning how to utilize each student’s strengths, Fries believes that her class has grasped the importance of working together, she said.

“I think that we learned how to bring our strengths together,? Fries said. ?In the first meeting, everyone tried to do a job on their own; but in our second meeting, we worked together and got things done.”

The freshman float, along with the other class floats, will be displayed during halftime of the varsity game on homecoming, Oct. 22.

For more information, read the Oct. 15 article, Homecoming week schedule, 2010.

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