A Break from the Stress: Junior Craft Day

On February 2nd, the Junior class dropped all academic commitments and participated in a craft day. The day featured four workshops: sock monkeys, paper crafts, games, and friendship bracelets. Leaders in each room presented a tutorial and walked participants through the crafts. The stations included friendship bracelet making, sock monkeys, games, and paper crafts. Quality materials were given to make pieces that students were impressed with. Samuel Abusaab (11-2) was surprised with how well his Sock Monkey turned out, exclaiming, “I really didn’t think it would be that easy to make a normal-looking finished project.” The day aimed to show craft arts are more accessible than people would think.

After realizing the lack of events in winter, the 11th-grade events committee was deliberating ways to spend grant money from HSA when member Kaddy Ren (11-3) decided to throw out the idea of a craft day; the original lighthearted idea started to come to fruition as it was received with a positive response. Juniors loved the idea. Ana Sorrentino (11-4) pointed out, “Masterman events seem to get a little stale after a while; I liked that our grade spiced it up.” Mehaad Behaar (11-2) agreed, saying, “It’s good to see that grant money was used for something actually fun.” 

Ren, playing a key role in running the events, noted the importance of fiber arts and crafting as stress relievers. She described crafting as “...an intuitive form of expression and great at fostering community.” She saw peers bonding over creative designs and assisting with sewing patterns, seeing the benefit of a group-centered creative activity. 

Ciaran Yudiono (11-4), also an organizer, led a grade-wide Kahoot at the end of half a day; he aimed to educate participants on each other with some friendly competition. He explained, “I’m happy with how the day ended. Juniors needed something fun to de-stress, and I want to continue doing these types of events where we bond as a community in the future.” Given that junior year is particularly stressful with AP tests and the college application process looming, it appears that students were very excited about a productive, fun, distraction from their normal routines.