By Alok Ganguly and Kai-Lou Yue
Managing Editor and News Editor
On August 28th, about 275 students gathered to attend a Westford Academy Movie Night, and watched Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, the classic 1986 film on blankets and lawn chairs between the varsity softball and baseball fields behind the school. It was the first time an event like this had been held at the school in eight years.
Junior class advisors Brian Roark and Patrick Gendron had hoped to carry out the event at the end of the last school year but decided to spend the summer planning and consulting with the sophomore, junior and senior class officers.
“The class advisors got the ball rolling with each grade separately, and then we each had a different thing to work on,” said Olivia Antonelli, junior class president.
Despite the preparation going on behind the scenes by the class advisors and officers, even they weren’t sure about the potential number of attendees, especially since attendance at similar events, such as dances, had been low in the past.
“Hopefully this will start a tradition so that it will become an annual event that becomes more and more popular,” said Emily Coates, an English teacher and senior class advisor.
Gendron added, “We didn’t know what to expect. We were hoping to just get the word out, and it would catch fire, but we had a great turnout and had an awesome time.”
As a result, Roark and Gendron hope to make this an annual event for members of all for WA classes. Movie nights may end up replacing dances, but that has not been confirmed.
Gendron added, “It’s unfortunate that dances stopped happening, but you need something to get people back together after summer; it’s a nice welcome back event.”
There were significantly larger number of freshmen at the movie than other grades, but students were seen from all grades.
Towards the end of the movie, a slight mishap occurred as a gust of wind blew the inflatable projector screen down during a pivotal scene in the film, but it was set back up again in less than four minutes and provided the audience with a good laugh.
“That kind of stuff happening is what makes the whole event a good story and gets more people to come next time,” said Gendron.
Students were generally happy with the event, with many saying that they had a great time, noticing a few shooting stars, and watching a classic movie with their friends.
“It was a surprisingly fun night, I would probably go again next year if it was offered again,” said junior Hannah West, enthusiastic about the possibility of more events like this.
