The second to last week at Newport Harbor High School before winter break was full of holiday spirit, as Newport Harbor’s first Holiday Dance was about to be thrown. The days leading up to the dance were celebrated with a spirit week, with days such as Pajama Day, Happy Hula-Days, Winter Sportswear Day, Star Wars Day, and lastly Ugly Holiday Sweater Day. These themed days were accompanied by an Instagram competition amongst the students, as posts could be marked with the hashtag “nhhsholidayspiritweek”. Each day would have one winner who would receive a ticket to the Holiday Dance, and one winner was chosen for the entire week, their prize being a free Winter Formal Ticket. The overall spirit week winner was Sara Ramirez whose costumes and enthusiasm for spirit week earned her the victory. Ramirez “didn’t expect to win since a lot of people with great pictures participated as well” but followed through with her costumes anyway, providing inspiration to her friends and others to participate in spirit week.   Daily winners can be seen on Instagram: @newportharobr_asb. The week concluded with the rally for the Holiday Dance, which featured performances from Drama, ASB, and students who volunteered to be in games during the rally. On Saturday night, the Holiday Dance was held with a large turnout, as students from Newport Harbor attended, as well as students from other schools’ ASBs in the Orange County area. Students danced the night away to N-EFFECT’s DJs and had a break from the rush of school work prior to getting away for the holidays.

Sara Ramirez on spirit week:

“Yes, it was very fun, embarrassing at times, but I think that is what spirit week is about. Being able to support your school and laughing at how we do it.”