An announcement was made stating the name of the Indian Call candidates. Those elected most likely would never have guessed how much preparation is involved for not only the Indian Call dance, but spirit week itself.

“I had to do a lot of things to prepare for this week,” senior Maddie Peters said. “I had to answer several questions for the website and the display case as well as make time to go do the video. We needed to have an 8 by 10 framed photo for the display case too. That was tricky for me because I took my photos in Minnesota over the summer where my photographer lives. We had to have her print and ship it out to us. I picked out 15 pictures of my life and a song to go with them and got them approved for the video. I had to make time to go take pictures too. I found a dress, shoes and jewelry and I also had to make a hair and nail appointment. On top of all that, I had to find clothes for spirit week.”

Spirit week took up a lot of planning time for senior Arin Straub.

“For Indian Call week I have done quite a bit of planning,” senior Arin Straub said. “Not only was finding a dress a pressing issue but planning out all the spirit days was important to me. Being a candidate has kept me on my toes. I’ve answered more questions than I can count, but I’ve had so much fun doing it.”

Senior Derek Drees, on the other hand, did not participate in spirit week quite as much as other candidates, but he enjoyed nerd day.

“On nerd day, I had Daniel Bittel bring me a toilet seat to wear to school. I also bought some groovy plaid pants.”

Most of senior Derek Erbert’s planning was applied to spirit week outfits.

“Spirit week is my favorite part of Indian Call,” Erbert said. “I didn’t have to buy anything special. I had all of my spirit clothes.”

Through all the planning and activities, the candidates each said they are honored to have been chosen by the student body.

“When I heard my name on the announcements, at first I thought I was just being called to the office, but then some class mates said that I was nominated,” Drees said. “I thought they were just pulling my leg until Mrs. Beam said they were being serious. I was happy and just honored to be nominated at all.”

13aarthur@usd489.com