Archbishop Carroll’s Door decorating contest has officially ended with a festive win.
First place honors went to Homeroom 3A, which decorated both the front and back doors of Room 104 as igloos and the bank of lockers between the two doors as a wintery scene full of skiers, ice skaters, snowboarders, deer, snowmen, and evergreen trees. The senior homeroom and homeroom moderator Mrs. Diane Gimpel will get treated by student council, which ran the contest, to doughnuts and hot chocolate after Christmas break.
Homeroom 3A’s entry fit the Winter Wonderland theme designated for the first floor of the school. When the homeroom began planning for the project, a few students came up with ideas for scenes that would meet the theme, and then the homeroom students voted for an igloo and wintery landscape scene. Students helped out by doing such tasks as cutting out cardboard to make the arches for the igloo doors and taping bulletin board paper to the lockers, then cutting around the locker doors so students still could get into them. Students helped out during homeroom, lunch periods, and study halls.
Homeroom 5a came in second place. The students decorated the front and back doors of Room 314 — Mrs. Janine Cahill’s homeroom — and the lockers in between with stripes of red and white wrapping paper. The third place winner was Homeroom 1A. Mrs. Kathryn Tucker’s classroom decorated the outside of Room 226 in a Whoville theme. Decorations included drawings and quotations from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” In addition, students hung pictures of wreaths with their pictures on them on the lockers between the two door.
A lot of homerooms participated in the contest. On the first floor, Mrs. Elizabeth Collins’ homeroom created a snowy woodland scene that included wooden trees she and her husband cut out of plywood and painted, as well as twinkle lights, an owl in a leafless tree branch, a fox nestled in artificial snow, and poetry. Mr. John Woehlcke’s homeroom created a tribute to The Nutcracker Suite ballet with a ballerina, complete with tutu, adorning the front door of the classroom. Mr. Woehlcke’s homeroom even set up a light-up deer in the hallway. Room 114 — Mr. Louis Valenti’s classroom — has a wreath on the front door, garland and snowflakes on the lockers, and snowmen with photos of each homeroom member on the back door.
“I like to keep my door classy and simple,” Mr. Valenti said.
However, Mr. Valenti’s classroom windows feature big Christmas vibes, with a large, red ‘Buon Natale’ banner (that’s the Italian equivalent of merry Christmas). In addition, twinkle lights hang in such a way that each window appears to have a lit Christmas tree in it.
“I try to promote school holiday spirit,” Mr. Valenti said.
The decorating effort associated with the contest captured the attention of students.
“Honestly I was shocked,” senior Julia Craskey said.
The contest began Dec. 1. The entries were judged after school Dec. 7 by Mrs. Christina Mulligan, Spanish teacher and student council moderator, and Mr. Christopher Fryberger, assistant principal of student life.
