On October 4th,  OCSA held its annual “Color Wars”.

Color Wars is an event held every year by each grade level to showcase school spirit. Each grade level is assigned a color, selects a theme, and are required to decorate a section of the school surrounding that theme. The students are also later required to showcase a performance in reference to that theme. The competition is between all middle school students and all high school students. Each grade level performed in front of a panel of judges who scored based on creativity as well as focusing on how each major in the school was represented.

At 7:30am, the Color Wars participants were allowed to begin decorating their hallways and doors. The morning set the mood for the entire day. From multiple designs and ideas, students were able to work hard to participate in a new medium of expression with their outside decorations.

The class of 2026 represented the color red with the theme of “Strangers Things.” Their morning decorations consisted of red streamers around their hallway and the performance was filled with the popular “Stranger Things” theme song and dance .

The class of 2025 represented the color orange with the theme of “The Lion King.” The students performed as popular characters from the movie and danced to famous songs from the movie.

The class of 2024 represented the color yellow with the theme of “The Yellow Brick Road.” The students told the story of the well known Wizard of Oz and Dorthy’s adventure through narration and dance.

The class of 2023 represented the color green with the theme of “Zombies.” The students brought the horror theme and mood to the audience with very intricate makeup designs and effects. Their “Thriller” performance was full of students dressed up as Zombies trying to attack the human world and entertaining audiences with Zombie characters running through the theater.

The class of 2022 represented light blue with the theme of “Under the Sea.” Their outside decoration consisted of a visual of the light blue sea and watery depths, with streamers decorated as jellyfish and other sea creatures. They gave an exciting performance with music from the “The Little Mermaid” and more. The Sophomores took the audience on an underwater adventure.

The class of 2021 represented the color dark blue with the theme of  “Tim Burton.” Their hallway area was filled with characters dressed up from famous movies directed Tim Burton. From the Corpse Bride to the classic Beetlejuice, the Junior gave an exciting performance with dance and acting.

Finally, the class of 2020 represented the color purple with the theme of “Villains.” The hallway consisted of the most well known Disney villains inviting students to “sell their souls” and purple and black voodoo dolls surrounding the area. Their performance told the story of Dr. Facilier’s journey to become the best villain of them all.

The day’s events concluded with Mrs.Smith, biology teacher, announcing the overall winners. For middle school, 8th grade took home the prize for first place. For the high school, 11th grade celebrated their win for first place.

Junior Drama Major, Valeria Perez, states that after placing 1st, “it felt good because it was like a comeback from last year after we placed last. I just love my class so much and I’m so happy that we go to work together.”

As a senior, with this being my last year of  Color Wars, I have realized that this amazing event is not all about winning, and more about coming together with your class to produce something for everyone to enjoy.