By Cecilia Conroy ’26, Annabel Cury ’27 & Madison Dang ’27
Senior Class welcomes the Freshmen (Photo Credit: Heidi Eligio)
Like all Welcome Days at Immaculate Heart, Welcome Day 2024 came and went in a rush as Pandas in each class tried to coordinate a dance, write a song, memorize lines for a skit, put together a gift, and paint the most extravagant poster possible, all in the span of two short weeks. And like all Welcome Days at Immaculate Heart, Welcome Day 2024 was a huge success! Despite the craze leading up to the big day, Pandas had a lot of fun, solidifying Welcome Day’s place as a favorite student tradition.
The grand reveal when students arrive on campus in their costumes, ready to show off their class themes, may be the most exciting part of Welcome Day. This year, the freshmen showed up decked out in elegant and classical costumes for their Fairytale Freshmen theme. The sophomores came ready to line dance in their very best cowboy hats and boots as the Saddle Up Sophomores. The juniors were ready to swim through the ocean with their mermaid scales as the Just Add Water Juniors. And finally, the seniors showed up in perfectly matching red jerseys. After weeks of telling everyone they were going to be the Stockbroker Seniors, they surprised other Pandas with the theme of Superbowl Seniors.
Saddle Up Sophomores poster (Photo Credit: Heidi Eligio)
The freshman Class of 2028 and the new transfer students got to experience the day’s magic for the first time. Freshman Lily Honican was impressed by the dance performances, adding, “Although I didn’t perform this year, it really inspired me to hopefully do it next year.” Freshman Hazel Speer equally enjoyed her first Welcome Day. “It was really cool,” she said. “People got really into it.”
Fairytale Freshmen Welcome Day Dance (Photo Credits: Heidi Eligio)
Nothing matches Panda spirit on Welcome Day, and it never gets old. Senior Georgina Speer, who has attended Immaculate Heart since middle school, said of her experience this year, “I felt the senior class really came together and put on a really amazing performance. I also really loved all the other grades’ performances. Everyone really brought their school spirit.” As Speer noted, Welcome Day is not only entertaining, it also bonds students together as part of a greater school community.
While Welcome Day is fun and games at its core, the event does encourage friendly competition between the grade levels. After all their hard work, Pandas are proud of their creations and want to reap the benefits in the form of spirit points. The classes also look forward to competing in several Welcome Day categories, including for best song, dance, gift, poster, and costume.
However, after the Welcome Day winners were announced this year, students on campus could be overhead debating for days whose skit was actually better and who actually had the most spirit. This prompted The Bamboo to interview a handful of students from each grade level for their opinions of the Welcome Day winners. The most contentious category proved to be the one for best poster. Based on faculty voting, the sophomore class won for its extremely detailed poster featuring a life-like horse on its hind legs. However, of those Pandas interviewed by The Bamboo, a majority favored the junior class poster featuring a mermaid sitting in a shell with LED lights surrounding it.
Just Add H2O Juniors poster with LED (Photo. credits: Heidi Eligio)
Despite differing views, both posters were impressive artistic creations, reflecting the immense talents of Immaculate Heart’s student body. Meanwhile, one opinion stands undisputed: Students remain united about Welcome Day 2024. It was a huge success and will continue to be a treasured tradition among Pandas here at Immaculate Heart!
The Bamboo 
By Cecilia Conroy ’26, Annabel Cury ’27 & Madison Dang ’27
Like all Welcome Days at Immaculate Heart, Welcome Day 2024 came and went in a rush as Pandas in each class tried to coordinate a dance, write a song, memorize lines for a skit, put together a gift, and paint the most extravagant poster possible, all in the span of two short weeks. And like all Welcome Days at Immaculate Heart, Welcome Day 2024 was a huge success! Despite the craze leading up to the big day, Pandas had a lot of fun, solidifying Welcome Day’s
place as a favorite student tradition.
The grand reveal when students arrive on campus in their costumes, ready to show off their class themes, may be the most exciting part of Welcome Day. This year, the freshmen showed up decked out in elegant and classical costumes for their Fairytale Freshmen theme. The sophomores came ready to line dance in their very best cowboy hats and boots as the Saddle Up Sophomores. The juniors were ready to swim through the ocean with their mermaid scales as the Just Add Water Juniors. And finally, the seniors showed up in perfectly matching red jerseys. After weeks of telling everyone they were going to be the Stockbroker Seniors, they surprised other Pandas with the theme of Superbowl Seniors.
The freshman Class of 2028 and the new transfer students got to experience the day’s magic for the first time. Freshman Lily Honican was impressed by the dance performances, adding, “Although I didn’t perform this year, it really inspired me to hopefully do it next year.” Freshman Hazel Speer equally enjoyed her first Welcome Day. “It was really cool,” she said.
“People got really into it.”
Nothing matches Panda spirit on Welcome Day, and it never gets old. Senior Georgina Speer, who has attended Immaculate Heart since middle school, said of her experience this year, “I felt the senior class really came together and put on a really amazing performance. I also really loved all the other grades’ performances. Everyone really brought their school spirit.” As Speer noted, Welcome Day is not only entertaining, it also bonds students together as part of a greater school community.
While Welcome Day is fun and games at its core, the event does encourage friendly competition between the grade levels. After all their hard work, Pandas are proud of their creations and want to reap the benefits in the form of spirit points. The classes also look forward to competing in several Welcome Day categories, including for best song, dance, gift, poster, and costume.
However, after the Welcome Day winners were announced this year, students on campus could be overhead debating for days whose skit was actually better and who actually had the most spirit. This prompted The Bamboo to interview a handful of students from each grade level for their opinions of the Welcome Day winners. The most contentious category proved to be the one for best poster. Based on faculty voting, the sophomore class won for its extremely detailed poster featuring a life-like horse on its hind legs. However, of those Pandas interviewed by The Bamboo, a majority favored the junior class poster featuring a mermaid sitting in a shell with LED lights surrounding it.
Despite differing views, both posters were impressive artistic creations, reflecting the immense talents of Immaculate Heart’s student body. Meanwhile, one opinion stands undisputed: Students remain united about Welcome Day 2024. It was a huge success and will continue to be a treasured tradition among Pandas here at Immaculate Heart!
Share this: