Balloons tied to legs and popped, thrown into the air and bursting with water and attached to six people for students to find around school. That was the fun-filled Balloon Week that ASB planned from March 11 to March 15 to encourage students to relax and have fun in the middle of second semester.

Sophomores and ASB Spirit commissioners Amy Sun and Ria Chaudhary were in charge of the event. As the lead organizer, Sun came up with the balloon theme, as she was inspired by the various events involving balloons that ASB had previously done.

This week of events was different from other ASB events in that the main purpose was simply to help students relax and have fun. Usually, weeklong events are done as spirit days leading up to a rally, to celebrate seasonal holidays or to raise awareness of certain causes.

“[Balloon Week] is in the middle of two big elections because beforehand we had the ASBO elections and after we have class office elections,” said Sun. “It’s the middle week where I thought maybe the student body would like to relax a little and take a break from all the elections and campaigning because that can get stressful.”

Sun incorporated events involving balloons into the week and researched past ASB events to determine which ones had the most participation. Though the Thursday event with free tea did not involve balloons, Sun recognized that it was a popular event that students enjoyed.

Despite their planning, Sun and Chaudhary struggled with was a lack of interest and participation in the events. Because of construction in the quad, ASB has been having difficulty trying to find a new central location to hold events, because while many people are gathered near the library, speakers are not allowed in the quiet space. However, the basketball courts are on the side of the school, and not many students pass by to participate or watch events.

On the first day of Balloon Week, students participated in a balloon battle, in which four teams of approximately five students each tried to pop balloons tied to the opposing team’s legs. The winning team received gold chocolate coins. During the game, teams tried various strategies to protect themselves and pop the others’ balloons. For example, one tactic was to use hands to pop the balloons as opposed to stepping on them.

“I liked how the main goal of the balloon battle was to just have fun and get people to interact with one another and talk to someone new,” said junior Aayush Seth, a participant in the balloon battle. “I talked to people I don’t talk to on a regular basis. It forced everyone to come together and try something new, even if they’re not necessarily comfortable.”

ASB organized a water balloon toss for the second day of Balloon Week, with the goal of being the last pair with their water balloon intact while they threw water balloons to each other from farther and farther distances. Twelve students participated, and the winning pair received donuts.

“During the water balloon toss, people were just having fun without thinking too much about it,” Chaudhary said. “I think that’s really good because people are often very closed-off, stressed and not happy, and people being able to find joy is the whole point of events like [Balloon Week].”

Though the balloon fashion show was cancelled on Wednesday, ASB provided free tea to students before first period on Thursday and organized a hunger hunt during lunch on Friday. Students had to collect stamps from at least three of the six people with balloons tied to their wrists at specific locations during lunchtime in order to receive half of a donut after school.

With an unique theme and interesting events, Balloon Week offered students fun and happiness throughout the school day in the middle of second semester. Despite issues with participation, ASB Spirit was able to accomplish their goals of helping students relax.