This school year marks a definitive new beginning for the house system at St. George’s with elected students taking the reins of leadership.
Since 2018, the St. George’s house system has been a new opportunity for Gryphon students to socialize, yet events have been few and far between.
At the beginning of each school year, students entering the upper school are sorted into one of four houses: Cypress, Swamp Willow, Honey Locust or Ironwood. During the year, houses compete against each other in house events to earn points for special rewards, such as getting to wear house shirts during formal dress days.
Elected at the end of the previous year, each house now has two house leaders to serve as their representatives when planning house events and other house-related decisions.
Those elected for 2024-2025 were Griffin Davis and Bennett Davis for Cypress, Corinne Cowan and Sydney Murray for Ironwood, Sloan Carruth and Autumn Phothirath for Honey Locust, and Ava Magness and Margaret O’Neill for Swamp Willow.
“I hope that we can all work together, and we’re all going to be able to work through this first year together,” said Cowan.
“If you look at Harry Potter, they’re doing it great,” senior Griffin Davis said, “And here at St. George’s it’s not near as big in the culture, and what we’re trying to do is to cultivate it and build that, so it can be more into everyday student life, instead of just an event that you do once every three months.”
Davis and other house leaders have stated that they are dissatisfied with the current system and hope to change it.
“We want more transparency between the house leadership team and the student body, because if the student body for example knows how many points and who is in the lead then that creates more of a competition and more school spirit surrounding the house system,” said Cowan.
One of these opportunities comes from the new house hideouts, a unique idea that gives each house a place to gather and rally. Each house has a segment of the woods on campus to meet and prepare for house days, decorated in the theme of their house and color.
Prefect of Outdoors, Lorelai Michael, is also a fan of the hideouts, as it encourages more students to enjoy the outdoors through house events.
“It’s super fun to have a section of the outdoors, like [that’s] where Ironwood goes, and that’s where Honey Locust goes,” Michael said.
As one of many unfortunate results of COVID-19, several plans for houses were put aside and large gatherings became scarce. Now, thanks to the house leaders, new systems to encourage student involvement are being implemented.
“I know we want to have at least one [event] a quarter, most likely,” explained Carruth, one of the two Honey Locust house leaders. “We want to make it where it’s not just one big house day and then people forget about it.”
After one month of the system being implemented, Davis and Cowan are happy with how house points at events are going.
“It’s definitely not a huge incentive, I don’t think that there are going to be 50 more people who show up to a volleyball game just because there are house points available, but it is an incentive nonetheless.”