Adding a topper to the brightly colored junior tree, class president Megan Terrazas and classmates honor their friend, Margaret Hussmann, who passed away last year due to complications with cancer. photo by Briana Sanchez

by Paige Melendez

Orange ornaments adorn a pine tree as the face of an old friend hangs on the tree, wearing a smile. Memorabilia is placed as garland, in the form of orange boas, giving the tree a surreal shimmer.

 On top, a familiar symbol stands strong, a hand symbol for rockstar.  As each class council tree displays a particular theme, the juniors honor a fallen classmate Margaret Hussmann. 

“We put a lot of Margaret stuff onto the tree, we tried to make it as much her as possible. We had orange, but we needed glitter, boas, and crazy sparkles,” junior Becca Brady said. “It was just her; we wanted to make it stand out and show her personality through the tree as much as possible.”

The tree was topped with Margaret’s picture and “Twice as Strong”; the motto Margaret led her life by leads the class of 2011.

“It’s cool to know that your best friend impacted an entire school and everyone still remembers her,” Brady said. “It’s been a year since [she has passed], so it’s just been really awesome knowing people still care.”

The tree had a personal aspect for the junior class, as their memories were actually recorded on the tree in personalized ornaments.

“I made something called ‘Margaret and Me Books,’” Brady said. “They are just little booklets that had everyone’s little story inside. I thought that would be really cool because everyone had a different crazy story about Margaret they wanted to share on the tree.”

However, the junior class was not the only one to remember a former classmate. In commemoration of Matthew Thomas Hicks, the seniors topped their tree with his ‘Super Matt’ symbol.

“He was a big part of our class and we all knew him either as his best friend or someone we had in class,” senior class president Brenna Moya said. “He is up there watching us so we wanted him to be the highest part of the tree and that’s a main thing people notice; he was a main part of our class.”

The class of 2010 carries Matt’s memory with them in everything they do.

“Senior year, his dad told us when he passed away to bring him to every event that we had and so we brought him to everything,” senior Moriah Momsen said. “He guides me and our class. I really think that he’s the guiding force; he brought us all together and he made us a unique class: the class of 2010 wouldn’t be anything without Matt and that’s why he’s at the top of our tree because he’s the thing that holds us all together.”

Matt and Margaret’s stories live on through the memories brought forth by their classmates.

“The tree just tells the school that Margaret will always be with us no matter what, whether it be pictures in the tree decorations or just conversations about her, she’ll just always be here,” junior Cassie Smith said. “Same with Matt, anyone whose ever passed away whose gone to school here will always be remembered.”