Amidst the chaos of last minute projects, humongous research papers, and scattered Christmas shopping, everyone felt the heat of the holiday season. Nevertheless, students were able to find solace through classroom Christmas parties while teachers found refuge in an ugly Christmas sweater competition.

On Monday, December 16 the East Noble High School staff had the opportunity to compete for the ugliest sweater award. This competition was in its third year, and the competition most certainly heated up to a level that it never had. Mr. Jacquay has made it known that he will always be a fierce competitor and this is by no means an understatement as he has won the award consistently for the past two years. However, another strong contender included Mr. Stickel who prepared with a newfound amount of vivacity. When interviewed about his performance last year and his goal for this one, Mr. Stickel recalled that “Last year was unfortunate, but be ready for Monday. It’s going to be epic.” His sweater “is completely, one hundred percent homemade, and there is an element from last year that is unforeseen.” Such fierce comments led on that this year’s battle would by no means be an easy one to win. Other teachers like Mrs. Benedict chose to play it safe with a Santa-like sweater that wasn’t too crazy. Some teachers like Mr. Kempf even went as far as to prepare the scenery of his room for the contest.

Despite the incredible amount of effort put out my many of the staff, Mr. Jacquay proved to yet again be the ugly sweater champion. Perhaps next year someone will be able to take on the reigning champion and prove that there is room for more than one ugly sweater victor out there. Until such time, take a gander at some of the great sweaters created by the staff!