Every December, Student Council’s Princess Superhero Breakfast is hosted in North’s cafeteria. The princesses and superheroes, played by North students, create an enchanting experience for eager children from all over D303.
“Princess Superhero Breakfast is basically where a bunch of members of our school and [Student Council] come and dress up as princesses and superheroes, and a bunch of little kids come from around the district, and they’re teachers kids, or some of them are just there to be there, and they come and do activities with us,” said senior Vidhi Patel, one of the event’s many organizers.
Not only do the student participants curate a fun and joyful environment through their acting, but also through their extensive behind the scene planning. Ahead of this year’s Dec. 6 event, members of Student Council’s senior class have worked since right after Homecoming to coordinate the details.
First comes recruiting North students to play the parts. People from both within Student Council and outside of the organization volunteer to fill the costumes of popular Disney characters and classic superheroes.
“It’s easier to sell it to people who have already seen the event, or council members who’ve heard of other people dressing up. And then once you start to talk about it with new people, sometimes they get excited,” said senior Javeria Hasan, Princess Superhero Breakfast organizer.
Then comes costume try-ons. On Thursday, Nov. 20, the princesses and superheroes-to-be gave their outfits a test run. There, participants made sure their costumes fit and were comfortable, and necessary adjustments were made. Junior Aishwarya Chavda, who is playing Star Wars character Rey at the event, finds that the costume try-ons are important to ensuring the student actors are comfortable in their costumes, as well as the process being a way to create camaraderie between the participants.
“[Costume try-ons] help us with seeing if the costumes fit. … Then we know, ‘Hey, I need to adjust this,’ or ‘this needs to be adjusted for me to fit into this costume,’ or, ‘I need body tape,’” said Chavda. “When the girls were trying stuff on, if we needed to help with something, we had that kind of girl bond going where it’s like, ‘Oh, I need help with this,’ or, ‘Does this look good?’ And that kind of just created that connection.”
Aside from coordinating the student actors, the group must organize Princess Superhero Breakfast’s other aspects, like providing food and refreshments and creating various activities to keep the kids engaged. They coordinate with outside groups, like Art Club, whose members are offering face painting at the event, and National English Honors Society, who is providing books and literacy-related activities. Beyond that, the event will also include dancing, coloring, and a parachute.
In the final stretch, a Friday after-school setup helps alleviate the Saturday morning stress.
“We have a Friday setup, … that way everything runs smoothly, because we arrive 45 minutes before the event starts Saturday morning,” said Chavda.
The student actors, organizers, and volunteers are motivated by the opportunity to not only provide a cheerful experience for the kids, but also to help them open up.
“[Princess Superhero Breakfast] is so important because it really breaks them out of their shell. I think because when they see high schoolers, they’re like, ‘Oh, they’re so scary. They’re so intimidating.’ But slowly, as you keep coming up to them and you’re like, ‘Oh, do you want to go color, or do you want to go sing, or do you want to go do this?’ They start breaking out of their shell. And I think that’s so cool,” said Patel. “They think we’re the real superheroes.”
The sense of community and shared purpose in the organizers and participants of Princess Superhero Breakfast is evident.
“I think all of us in council have had people come up to us and be like, ‘Oh, I’m so excited to dress up, I’m so excited to see the kids,’” said Patel. “I think there is a shared goal there, and everyone just is there to make the kids day and make them happy, and also just to have a good time.”
This year’s event is Dec. 6 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the North cafeteria. Tickets are available online or at the door: $10 for adults and children, and free for kids under two years old.
