WILMER JOEL
The largest high school in the country, MIHS, rejuvenated its school activities after the disruption of Covid with a welcome party last week as the first student activity for this school year. MIHS welcomed its largest ever group of new students last Thursday. There were more than 500 new students including transfer students and five new teachers at a packed event watched by a multitude of students.
There were so many freshmen and transfer students that the chairs and tents were not enough to accommodate this large number — some had to stand next to the school library for cover.
The program started exactly at 12pm under the blazing heat of the sun with excitement pumping in the veins of each student. Pandemonium broke loose when students came out of the entrance shaking the floor with their dance moves — some doing backflips, while others did the shimmy. The planned power outage was no problem, a backup generator came to the rescue to keep the program running.
The event also gave students the opportunity to reveal their talents in singing, dancing, music, and comedy. To add to the fun, new and old students got the chance to compete against each other in common games like freeze dance and musical chairs.
New students were put to the test in a Q&A session asking questions about important figures in the Marshall Islands, characters in Marshallese legends, and facts about the school. Winners of the Q&A session, freeze dance, and musical chairs were presented prizes in the form of school supplies by Principal Barbara Ned.