Sophie Wood
And a freshman shall lead them…
If all the seniors, juniors and sophomores showed the maturity, thoughtfulness and grace of New Canaan High School freshman Sophie Wood, maybe the school’s pep rally would still be part of Spirit Week and Homecoming Weekend.
Costume Day, which was once Clone Day, is still part of the festivities, and was held this past Tuesday. Groups of students dressed in costumes such as angels, devils, referees and more. Two weeks ago Sophie realized that a lot of kids might be unintentionally excluded from the fun.
“I thought about all the freshmen girls who are shy, just moved here or came from other schools,” she said. “So I started something on Facebook, that any kid who doesn’t have a costume or group could connect with me and join. That’s how it started.”
Amazingly, about 80 students contacted Sophie, which represents close to half of the freshman girls at NCHS. Originally the costume was to be Olaf, the snowman from the movie “Frozen,” but there wasn’t enough time for all the girls to procure it. So they instead all went as “tourists,” appropos for the event.
“We’re like tourists to the high school,” said Sophie. “It worked out even better.”
Hawaiian shirts, floppy hats and blue jean shorts provided visual solidarity for the group. Many met each other for the first time on Tuesday morning, their smiles and camaraderie captured in selfies.
“I’m quite proud of Sophie,” said her mother, Vanessa. “Homecoming was early this year. Freshman girls didn’t have time to get acclimated. It took one kid to put herself out there. It was just a nice thing to do. With the cutting back on things like the pep rally, this shows that kids can do the right thing.”
Sophie was delighted with an unexpected bonus of her efforts.
“I was already good friends with 10 or 15 girls in the group, and now the others I didn’t know are my new friends.”
The freshman girl ‘tourists’ who came together via a Facebook invite from Sophie Wood, gathered outside New Canaan High School on Costume Day before entering the school on Tuesday morning. (Michael Catarevas photo)