LSE Door Decorating Derby: A new tradition sparks creative genius in LSE staff

Jerrica Zuhlke, Copy Editor

Lincoln Southeast’s (LSE) annual spirit week, which took place from Oct. 19-Oct. 23, saw an addition to the festive fun that sparked some creative genius from the LSE staff. With the cancellation of homecomings across LPS, the LSE Student Council (StuCo) sponsors, Julie Krueger and Autumn Wardyn, were looking for different ways to keep the excitement among students and staff. What they came up with was, what Krueger likes to call, the “Door Decorating Derby.” 

Each individual hall was given a theme requirement, which included decades, jerseys, Knight Pride, holiday, and tourist. These were the same themes as the original spirit week dress-up themes, which allowed for some continuity. 

In order to get as many people involved as possible, StuCo decided to make the door decorating a contest, with prizes in several different categories. Below is the full list of categories, and their winners:

Overall Champion: Lindsay Pierce (D133)- Jurassic Park

Tourist: Lindsay Pierce (D133)- Jurassic Park

Jersey: Kim Anthony (F233)- Slammin’ Out Success

Decades: Counseling Center- Decades of Knight Pride

Holidays: Tressa TeKolste (E211)- National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls

Knight Pride: PE Department- LSE KP!

Razzle Dazzle: Lindsay Pierce (D133)- Jurassic Park

Continuity of Theme: Kim Anthony (F233)- Slammin’ Out Success

Surprise Element: Julie Krueger and Schmidt (F221)- Beware the Knight

Craftsmanship: FCS Department (D132, D134, D135)- Paris, Maui and London

Clarity of Theme: Kelsie Banks, Heidi Moore and Christie Flynn (D102)- Road Trip to the Beach

The champion of the Door Decorating Derby, Social Studies teacher Lindsay Pierce, was excited to bring her competitive spirit for the sake of school spirit. Her given theme was Tourist, and Pierce decided to “think outside of the box and not do a typical tourist destination”. She chose the fantastical destination of Jurassic Park, which Pierce had a personal connection to. 

“[I] always loved the movies as a kid, in fact they were some of my favorites. I may or may not have a slight obsession with dinosaurs as well,” Pierce said. 

Pierce’s enthusiasm for the contest was shared by many other staff members, and hopes to have another chance to compete with others in this, possible, new tradition at LSE. 

“Walking through the halls, looking at everyone’s door certainly brought joy to my day and I am sure many others,” Pierce said.