This year’s winter assembly opened with an energizing introduction of this year’s ASB members set to “Electric Love” by Børns, complete with creative transitions. Our pep commissioners, seniors Winnie Liu and Hannah Hung, then introduced the planned events. 

First up was a performance from Orchesis, choreographed by juniors Jacqueline Diep, Jolie Fong, and Zoe Liu, and seniors Madison Estevez, Alvina Wang, and Elaine Zhao. Orchesis members filmed their individual performances set to the song “Stand Out” by Alexi Von Guggenberg, and each video was artfully pieced together; it was almost like watching the real thing. Each dancer spun and leaped as the costumes transitioned from classic black Orchesis attire into shiny red dresses.  

“The Orchesis officers spent numerous weeks planning and choreographing the winter assembly Holiday dance,” said Alvina. “Our director Breanne Genite organized a green screen background for the company members to individually film and later edited the dance as well.”

Next, Academic Commissioner senior Maggie Sun was joined by her cats Alfred and Claude as she introduced our academic teams. Each team sent in a brief video featuring their members or their activities, and Maggie opened each introduction with a witty description. We observed Ocean Sciences Bowl’s adorable aquatic backgrounds, Speech and Debate’s team spirit, Applied Engineering’s excellent workmanship, and Quiz Bowl’s enormous range. We the People, Academic Decathlon, Science Bowl, Engineering Design & Development, Physics Team, Destination Imagination, History Bowl, and Science Olympiad all made an appearance. Competitions may be limited, but academic teams are still hard at work. 

“Even though the annual regatta that we build a solar-powered boat for is canceled, we are still building a boat and preparing for next year,” said Applied Engineering team member senior Karen Li. “It’s unfortunate that we won’t get to compete, but we are still developing our engineering skills.” 

Athletics Commissioner senior Joshua Mar kicked off the introductions from Arcadia High School’s athletics teams. Boys Volleyball, Cross Country, and Water Polo were all featured. Although their seasons will likely be limited, we wish them the best of luck. 

“I miss running into the North Gym with my team,” said cross country runner senior Kyle La. “This would have been my fourth year, so it is quite sad that we weren’t able to.” 

Drum Major senior Justin Wu then announced the marching band’s performance of Part 1 of “Impressions.” Their piece was followed by a performance from the symphony orchestra of Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite, Op. 40, I. Praeludium, introduced by Orchestra Council President senior Charisse Liu. As videos of well-dressed orchestra members and coordinated band students flashed across the screen, the sounds from each individual recording meshed together perfectly, proving to viewers that distance has not been successful in keeping our musicians from performing together.  

“Performing virtually is a little strange because I can’t feel the energy of the audience or my fellow performers, and I’m performing in my own bedroom, and my responsibilities as drum major have shifted to a more behind-the-scenes role,” said Justin.  

The assembly then transitioned to a Finish the Lyrics game played by students of all ages. Participants listened to clips from popular songs like Doja Cat’s “Say So” and Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” and were then challenged to finish the lyrics from when the song cut off. Some players boldly sang to complete the song while others mumbled along, and the commentary from members of the cross country team was especially enjoyable. 

“It was a lot harder to finish lyrics than I expected,” said senior Joshua Fan. 

Of course, the teachers couldn’t let the students maintain their monopoly on the fun—the next activity was a game of Jeopardy! played by AHS teachers. Mr. Green, Mr. Seiler, and Mr. Wong all competed to prove their knowledge in categories like AHS, slang, sports, trivia, and music. Mr. Green turned out to be well-versed in a wide range of topics and won the game with 3300 points. 

Although almost everything about this school year is different from anything we’ve experienced, at least one tradition remains the same: the assembly closed with a performance of the alma mater from the pep band, reminding viewers that we are all AHS students, no matter where we are.

Graphic courtesy of Elena Chan