CLEARFIELD — Clearfield High School students unleashed their creativity Tuesday as part of their homecoming week with containers full of paint aimed at each other.
The caution tape designated where the paint fight zone was, and while music blared, paint began flying in all directions.
The nearly 400 students in attendance were using 40 gallons of watered down paint to dump on each other with small plastic bottles in an event fondly known as “Splat.”
The crew of students divvying out the small bottles of paint couldn’t hand them out fast enough for the massive crowd of students happily throwing paint at each other.
As sophomore Andy Phillips put it so succinctly, “Throwing paint at everybody — what’s not awesome about that?”
For Student Body Adviser LeNina Wimmer, watching the students participate in the event is one of the highlights of the year for her.
“They get to have fun, get messy, and let it all out being crazy at the beginning of the year — and it’s all legal,” Wimmer said.
Junior Class President Sadie Wagstaff and her junior class officers organized the event this year. They were looking at a long night of cleanup after the students finished their paint war, but knew it would be well worth their time.
“I just think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to just let loose and have fun,” Wagstaff said. “It’s something different and not the common after-school activity.”
The tradition has been around for more than five years and is one of the most attended activities of the year. Given the smiles and laughter from the crowd of students, it was proving to be a bonding experience for them.
The event gave Junior Class Secretary Emily Harzey the opportunity to get to know her friends better.
“This is the best activity, because not only do you get messy, but it is fun, and you get to throw stuff at your friends,” she said. “Just something about throwing paint at each other bonds us together.”
Getting home was a tad tricky for the students. Some planned to put clear plastic wrap or similar material on the car seat before heading home, while others came prepared with really old towels to try to dry off as much paint as possible before hopping into the car.
Harzey was planning an extra-long shower when she got home, remembering the 45-minute shower she took last year trying to scrub all the paint off while the soap turned all sorts of colors.
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