On Monday, Dec. 14, a school-wide competition began, pitting teachers against teachers, with the students calling the shots. This competition was the door decorating contest, where teachers were instructed to decorate their doors in a fashion that reflected their class and the spirit of the holidays.

The week of Dec. 7-11, the process of decorating doors started. The teachers entered the door decorating contest by decking their door in vibrant paper, sparkling glitter, and even 3-D details.

Cleveland English teacher Susie Brighouse was the brains behind this activity, inviting teachers to partake in a fun little competition, which ended up becoming a school wide movement. Her inspiration for this event was from her past experiences at different high schools. Brighouse commented, “I just like to be creative around the holidays, and creative all the time, and I’ve been at schools where they’ve done door decorations.”

The teachers were instructed to decorate their doors, in any fashion, and many chose to show their love for winter through the use of snowflakes, snowmen, and penguins. Brighouse explained, “This isn’t about the holidays, it can be about the subject that you teach or whatever you want.”

Besides the winter themed decorations, some more intricate decorations were found on doors. Matt Sten decorated with fake snow globes, Vanessa Hughes had Snoopy and Charlie Brown, and Kendra Wisley adorned her door with a Starbucks cup meant for King Kong.

Brighouse was impressed by the different doors, and commented, “I’m just amazed at the different creativity that has come out of it, and the people who have come up to me and said ‘This is so much fun, I’m so glad we’re doing it.’ That’s more surprising than anything.”

This wasn’t just a fun activity to raise school spirit, but a way to raise money for families at Cleveland. The winners of the competition were chosen by students, through contributing money to the envelopes in the classrooms of their favorite door. Whichever door raised the most money won.

The winners were Poeko Waiwaiole and Sadie Adams, Susan Douglass, Roberta Stubbs and Trisha Rhoades.

The nearly $200 raised is to help families in our community, as Brighouse explained, “Families right here at the school get the money. We’re going to be using it to help them pay rent, and to get them whatever they need. It’s going to go to gift cards to Walmart, and stores that they need, and then the counselors will have that to give them who need groceries or just even a coat.”

Brighouse said, “I have staff going, ‘It doesn’t look very good’ or ‘I don’t want to put something up, because I don’t have time,’ and I say, ‘It’s not about how great it looks, it’s about just having fun with it, having your students do it.’ It’s not about the competition, it’s just about having some fun, and raising the money. I don’t care if the doors are perfect.”