Ivy Lagarto, Emilia Haus

At Miami Palmetto Senior High, courtyard extravaganzas or “Fun Fridays” occur weekly. These celebrations bring the student body together and boost morale throughout campus.

Fun Fridays were created to amplify school spirit, decompress from a busy week and get excited for the weekend and any thrilling events to come. Behind these events is the Student Council’s Student Involvement team, which creates and helps run them.

Daniela Martinez, a member of the Student Involvement Senate Committee, says that her team saw an opportunity to get students to be more active in the community and proposed Fun Fridays. 

“We were trying to think of something to get the school more involved,” Martinez said. “We created Fun Fridays to get more school spirit throughout every week.”

The Student Involvement Committee has set up Fun Fridays so that a different club will take the lead every week.

“We’re having every club set up Fun Fridays,” Martinez said. “Every club is going to be there representing and doing something different.”

On a typical Fun Friday, clubs and groups will set up the courtyard with a themed event. This past Friday, the Social Science Honor Society hosted a celebration in honor of  Hispanic Heritage Month.

SSHS had interactive tables set up for students to explore, including a welcome station, soccer game and several country-specific tables with different games and treats to encourage students to learn more about Latin American cultures.

U.S. Government teacher and sponsor of SSHS Kailey Almonte, had a huge turnout and saw many people come together to celebrate Hispanic Heritage. In her view, Fun Fridays help students engage in more activities around school and make the student body more connected. 

“It’s really nice to have everybody come together and just listen to music, dance, play soccer, whatever it is,” Almonte said.

Past courtyard events include performances from MPSH’s Jazz Band, Parent-Teacher Student Association tables with candies to encourage membership and the School Safety Senate Committee’s “Start With Hello” Friday Mixer to boost inclusivity.

Looking forward, Student Involvement plans to have many more courtyard celebrations throughout the school year.

Fun Fridays help the MPSH student body celebrate events and holidays. Students participate in different activities, meet new people and are able to learn outside of the classroom and in a social setting, overall creating a more positive and uplifting school environment.