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On the morning of Friday, February 27, the Associated Student Body (ASB) hosted the annual All School Day (ASD). The day began at 9:00 a.m. when students from all grade levels streamed into Hoffman Gymnasium, excitedly anticipating the theme reveal video. A series of giggles and groans echoed off the walls as fake themes, including Love Island and “The 2026 Westridge Winter Olympics,” passed by. Once the real theme was announced, ASB released the flood of students, embarking on a day of fun.
ASD is a half-school day where classes are put on hold for community members to relax and enjoy themselves. It is a tradition beloved by Westridge students and faculty alike. Each year, ASB devises a theme that the day’s activities will follow. This ASD, the theme was Westflix.
Westflix is a word play combining Westridge and the global TV-streaming service, Netflix. During ASD, students participated in various activities relating to Netflix television shows, including a haunted house based on a Korean thriller drama series All of Us Are Dead, and an escape room based on the American horror series Stranger Things. Other activities consisted of virtual reality, inspired by Ready Player One, American Ninja Warrior themed bouncy obstacle courses, laser tag, and a cake decorating station inspired by The Great British Bake Off. There was even a live band performance featuring Director of Theatre Mr. Brandon Kruhm’s cover band, The Morning Spins. Between activities, participants made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in SMUD for Friends In Deed, a non-profit organization in Pasadena, focused on providing services to homeless or at-risk community members.
4th graders Lila A., Lucy H., Vivienne M., Sanaa R., and Mila M. had a blast at their first ASD. They all agreed that each activity was unique and fun in its own way, but the haunted house in particular caught their eyes. “They did a really good job of making it scary because they knew that there were older kids going in there, but there were also lower schoolers like us, so they evened it out,” said Lila A. ’34.
However, some 4th graders wished for more disclaimers and possible trigger warnings. Some students were scared of blood or uncomfortable with claustrophobic spaces. While Lower School students were held back after the theme was announced and were warned broadly that the haunted house and escape room were scary and may be intense, some students wished the disclaimers were more specific. New student Olivia L. ’31 said, “We got more disclaimers from actual students who had went in versus the people that were actually working in the haunted house.”
Some Lower School students, including 6th grade student Kinsley L., wanted references to shows that were known by younger students. Stranger Things and All of Us Are Dead are more suitable for older audiences, the official age rating for Stranger Things being TV-14 and All of Us Are Dead being TV-MA. “It feels more directed to middle school,” Kinsley said. “I just don’t watch any of the shows, so I don’t really get it,” said Chiarina S. ’32.
Even so, many students loved this year’s ASD theme, “[Westflix] was a theme that was really broad and allowed for a lot of activities thatwere good because sometimes in past years, it’s felt like there’s just random stuff that they’re just shoving in to make it fit with the theme,” said senior Eliza K.
ASB’s 10th Grade President and Spyglass Copy Editor, Katherine D., was a scare actor working at the haunted house. She helped set up ASD the day before and was also deeply involved with the planning of it. Unlike previous years, she noticed that the ASB as a whole focused more on the planning aspect of ASD than the ideas. They had to plan how each activity would be executed, what elements to incorporate, and where it would be held. “We took a really broad theme and made specific events to it that I hope cater to a lot of different types of people. I hope everyone’s been able to have fun,” she said.
Student Life members Abbie Z. ’28 and Isabella Y. ’28 both helped with setting up ASD the day prior. As they helped out, they both shared concerns about whether they would have enough time to put everything together without making the day seem rushed. During ASD, Abbie and Isabella volunteered at the haunted house longer than anticipated due to high demand. Although they both expressed wishes to have more time to enjoy ASD and its activities, they were content with the results of their hard work. “I felt a lot of satisfaction knowing that people were scared coming out of the haunted house or people really enjoying the escape room; that people enjoyed ASD in general,” Abbie Z. said.
ASB President, Micaela R. ’26, started thinking about this year’s ASD and its theme in October of last year. The most challenging thing about ASD was the theme video, as it required extensive filming and editing. Micaela recalled having a tough time filming on campus without having students figure out what the theme could be ahead of time. She also took days editing and adding captions to the video once the filming portion was finished. Micaela said, “I’m just really proud of ASB, Student Life, and really everyone who helped in some aspect. I’m very proud of how much work we put into it, and I’m just so grateful for Ms. Spicer, ASB, and Student Life because they did it. They killed it. It was honestly really great.”
Administrative Assistant to the Upper School and ASB Coordinator, Ms. Spicer, was deeply involved with the logistics of ASD. She paid great attention to the equipment behind each activity and vendor; going around campus and making sure everything was going smoothly the day of. This was her fifth year organizing ASD, and the biggest challenge for her was making sure each activity was enjoyable across all divisions. To her relief, most students were stoked and had fun across all activities.
Ms. Spicer said, “[ASD] is a day to just scream your head off, have a good time, be with your friends and remind yourself to have fun and take a beat, and that’s okay. My hope is that students can just do that and not think about the stresses of a normal school day life, but be able to be in the school environment and have a really fun time.”
To see video coverage of the activities that took place during ASD, check out our Spyglass Live video:
