STA class of 2010 continues the legacy of the traveling skirt

From students to teacher, the floor length tartan plaid kilt was placed on the waist of at least one-fourth of the STA student body this school year. According to senior Anne Schwartz, the purpose of the skirt was successful, uniting the senior class.

“I think my favorite part [about wearing the skirt] was just feeling included in the bond of the senior class,” Schwartz said. “It shows how funny and wacky our class really is. When I wear it, I feel like I am really embracing my class.”

According to senior class vice president Brady Essmann, almost every student in the class of 2010 has had the chance worn the traveling skirt. STA also voted literature teacher Kelly Fast, to wear the kilt as a fundraiser for the theatre department’s trip to Scotland.

“It would be cool to get [the skirt] passed down to [the class of 2011] as a tradition,” junior Maddie Lueke said. “But it would also be good to start one of our own.”

As the year ends, the future of the traveling skirt is in the hands of Essmann and class president Caroline Thompson.

According to Essmann, Thompson and herself wrote a poem about the skirt reflecting its first year in the hands of STA girls. On Class Day, Essmann and Thompson plan on reading the poem and passing the kilt down to the class of 2011, in hopes that they will continue the tradition.

“I really hope that [the junior class] passes [the skirt] on and keeps it going from class to class,” Essmann said. “It would be really cool to possibly see the girls still wearing the skirt in ten years. Hopefully, each senior that walks the halls of STA will get a chance to wear the floor length kilt that began with the class of 2010.”

Ode to the Traveling Skirt

Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see.
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter accessory than me.
You can keep your sweaters black,
Your cropped socks sleek and tall,
For I’m the STA Travelling Kilt
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Travelling Kilt can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Donnelly Hall,
Where the sciences run their course,
With the Mathletes and Blake’s fetus’
Scientific women meet their source;

You might find that M&A,
‘ËœTis where the arts do flourish,
And you will engage teachers of all kinds,
Who for the creative soul do nourish;

Or yet in good old Goppert,
Tis there you might find your calling.
Trying (and failing) to beat Bode at badminton,
You’ll always find an opportunity for balling;

Or perhaps in the ministry workroom
You’ll reach your true potential.
Where spiritual growth and an open mind,
By decree of LaScala, Good, and Hansborough are essential;

But no matter what you be,
No matter what you do,
You always are an STA girl,
And I’ll pledge MY heart to you.

I’ll bring you girls close, keep the spirit alive.
With me, let leadership and unity be yours,
Because I need you, just as you need me
Class of 2011 seniors.

So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
STA girls show no shame in wearing me.
So don me proudly ‘Ëœcross the quad’¦

Because you’re from the Academy