The most anticipated event for HHS seniors, Superstars, will take place on February 15, 2013.

Superstars can best be described as an indoor field day that begins first period and ends around fifth period. The five gym classes pit against each other in each of the five events in hopes of being the ultimate champions. Each gym class nominates a female and male captain. The captains are responsible for collecting the money for the T-shirts and deciding which seniors will participate in each event. Although there are six senior gym classes, there will only be five teams competing this year. This is because the fifth period and eighth period have fewer than twenty students each, so they combined to become one team.

First period captains are Dwayne Miele and Nicole Occhipinti. “We have a lot of confidence, intelligence, and strategy. We’re like the 49ers: dominant in every way,” says Miele. Second period captains are Tommy Walls and Jazmin Veliz. Both Walls and Veliz believe that first period and eighth period are overconfident about winning because they have a surplus of athletic boys; however, the advantage for their team is the impressive balance of athletic boys and girls. The captains for fourth period are Steven Prieto and Renee Buchanan. “I truly believe that this will be an intense year of Superstars, but our team has determination and drive with a great team mentality. We’re in it to win it!” says Prieto.  For fifth period, the captains are Salvatore Cuocci and Stefanie Yeung. “My team may not be the strongest or the biggest, but if we all work together and try our hardest, you never know what could happen,” says Yeung. Brian Sommers and Sydney Calkins lead seventh period. “All the other gym classes are underestimating us, but I think they’re going to be surprised at how well we do,” says Sommers. And lastly, in eighth period, the captains are Trey Miller and Brooke Morton. “I’m really hoping for the best. We have a pretty stacked team, and I think if we work together, we’ll be very successful,” says Morton.

According to Allyson Gerdes, senior physical education/health teacher, each team has an advantage this year. First period has a lot of athletic boys, second period has many athletic girls, fourth and seventh period both have speed, and fifth and eighth period have a good combination of strength. She believes this will help the fifth and eighth period win the tug-of-war event.

Gerdes reveals the event she is most looking forward to this year is the obstacle course because “it’s going to be really funny this year because we’re changing it up. It’s going to be a little ridiculous.”

The events for the day include the foul shooting competition, obstacle course, tug-of-war, volleyball game, and relay race. For the past seven years, speedball was also a part of the day’s events; however, this year it has been taken off of the agenda. According to Gerdes, “We, as a [physical education] staff, decided that it was getting too dangerous… And as much as you can insist that people are sportsmanlike, in the heat of the moment, and since everyone is on stage, everyone tries to out-perform each other.” To fill up the time that was normally allotted to the gym-class favorite, the other events were “beefed” up, and the foul shooting competition, which used to take place during class time the day before, will take place the day of Superstars instead.

And as a tip for the teams before the day of the event, Gerdes says, “Don’t take it too seriously. Remember having fun, although it sounds cheesy, is the utmost goal … it’s all about having good memories and taking pictures.”

Underclassmen are encouraged to view the events and root for their favorite teams/seniors during their lunch and/or gym periods.