A modern tradition at CMS is the door decorating contest, which just started on March 4, and the final due date is Friday, April 5th. During the door decorating contest, each homeroom gets to decorate their door in the most creative way that they can, following the theme. Last year’s theme was winter, with different options you could choose to follow, such as Winter Wonderland. This year, the theme is either a book, TV show, a musical, or a movie. Last year, the 6th grade winner was Ms. Diggs, the 7th grade winner was Ms. Socha, and the 8th grade winner was Ms. Demanche and Ms. Shortell’s homeroom. Along with the overall winners for each grade, there are also awards given out for the most creative doors, best-recycled materials, and others. This year, honorable mentions are given to the door with the best craftsmanship, the most unique door, the door with the best connection to the theme, and the best use of materials. Each of the awards, and the overall winner, is per grade. This year, the rule is that teachers and students have to use materials they have, instead of going out and buying them. Last year, classes used a wide range of materials, including streamers, paper snowflakes, confetti, and other recycled materials from home. Students have time to work on their doors during homeroom periods, prime time, and sometimes recess. The CMS spirit board organizes this contest to add a bit of joy and colorfulness to the gloomy winter months. This contest is also organized so homerooms have a chance to learn to work together and be creative. On March 13th, just 23 days before the due date, most doors across the building were still bare. The only two doors that have made significant progress are Ms. Fasciolo’s homeroom and Ms. Socha’s homeroom. Both of the doors happen to be doing Barbie as their theme; however, their doors don’t look very alike. Both doors have chosen pink as their main color, and they are both using different materials, such as neon lights, and streamers.  This is just one of the many examples of how creative each homeroom can be with its doors, and how every door is going to end up looking very different. So far, it is unclear who the final winners will be.