Harry Potter Holds the Hearts of HHS
As per the planning of Hobart French Language Teacher, Mrs. Heidi Polizotto, the magic of Harry Potter was captured in a 22 hour long marathon in the school auditorium.
The showing of all eight movies alongside other Harry Potter themed fun went on an all nighter, lock in-like schedule, and had a great turn out of Hobart’s wizardry fans. Tickets were sold to the event for $25, which included two catered meals, snacks, and the magic of the “in the theater” experience of all eight movies in the Harry Potter series.
Chairman of the event, Mrs. Polizotto, stated “We had about 130 people attend the marathon, but only about 80 lasted the entire event! The event started at 9 a.m. on Friday and the last movie concluded at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday!”.
The event was not just planned for the sake of students entertainment- the proceeds of the fundraiser went to benefit the School City of Hobart as a whole. Hobart High School is a very big supporter of Post-Secondary education, and college and career readiness. This gives the teachers and staff at HHS a push to support their students with financial support in the way of scholarships.
Polizotto added “The Hobart Educational Foundation wanted to find a way to bring more people in the community into the building as well as wanting to raise some more money for scholarships and grants to School City of Hobart students and teachers. HEF will use the profits of the event to fund scholarships and grants for School City of Hobart students and teachers.”
A lot of community involvement went in to make this event run as smoothly as it did; sponsorships from companies all around Hobart assisted greatly in the funding, food, and fun put into this event. With nearly 24 hours of films, fun, and fan based activities, the marathon was a success. Hobart’s newest coffee house, Librarium Cafe, owned by Harry Potter fans themselves even made an appearance. During one of the several food breaks of the event, Librarium’s owners came to distribute one of their many specialties: Butter Beer!
Polizotto stated “Myself and Beth Black took the lead on the event planning. Chad Kollross and Marsha Freimuth helped immensely with ordering and getting supplies, as well as finding sponsors. Our sponsors were HEF, SCoH, Dairy Queen, Lincoln’s Carry Out, and Easton’s Lettering. These sponsors really help offset the cost of the event! We couldn’t have done the event without our many volunteers: community members, HEF members, and Kiwanis and Key Club members. Everything went so smoothly! I’d also like to say that the audience was great and very respectful of the auditorium and each other. It made supervision so easy! Who knows? Maybe there is a Star Wars marathon in the future!”
Highlights of the event included fan based trivia questions, costume competitions, and the delicious catered meals the students were able to look forward. Mrs. Polizotto, being an avid Harry Potter lover and fan, was very enthused to see the turnout for the event.
“I loved the enthusiasm that was brought to the event. Everyone there seemed to know loads of trivia about the movies and books. Some were dressed in costume. My favorite costumes were the Invisibility Cloak and Cedric Diggory.” said Polizotto. “We had a full lunch and a full dinner served between the movies. Everyone was given about a 45 minute break for this. Between other movies, breaks were shorter, but filled with trivia contests for those in the auditorium.”
Prom Fashion with a Purpose
The nonprofit organization, “Educational Helpers” focuses on assisting students in need get school supplies for a successful school year; backpacks, art supplies, utensils, and whatever else a student may need to do well in their educational journey. In order to raise more funds, the organization is hosting a Prom Fashion show, with dresses from Hobart’s own Pink Boutique.
The Fashion Show is a big topic of discussion at Hobart High school with prom slowly approaching, and much of the female student population awaiting their perfect dress. Select HHS students are assisting in selling tickets to the fashion show. Pink Boutique is one of the hot spots for HHS dress purchases, so Hobart student’s are awaiting the show and making time to find their fellow peers involved to purchase tickets from.
Junior student, Madeline Palichuk, who is involved in ticket sales stated “The event is going to be a lot of fun, and is all for a great cause. There’s a lot to look forward to, like the silent auction taking place for the dresses, and the lunch included with a ticket purchase.”
The event will take place February fifth, at 11 AM at Avalon Manor in Merrillville. Tickets include 20% off of a dress in the show when putting $100 down, according to an Instagram post from @a_pinkbotique, the dress sponsor’s own instagram account.
Palichuk added, “Why not jump on looking for the right dress as soon as possible? I mean, with dozens of perfect dresses being displayed at this event, it’s worth checking out.”