Hutchison has many school-wide traditions due to how long it has been around for. Some of these traditions include graduation at Idlewild Presbyterian Church, the senior breakfast, the Upper School advisory costume contest, Black and Gold Day and much more. 

“The senior breakfast has been a tradition for years and years,” says Mrs. Nair. It takes place on the first day of school to mark the start of their senior year. It also is a chance for the seniors to celebrate their progress in school. Following the breakfast, the seniors go to the main entrance of the Upper School and place stickers on the other students. The stickers match the theme of the senior class. This is a newer tradition because in the past, the seniors created a tunnel and soaked the other students by spraying them with squirt guns. 

Throughout the school year, there are council weeks that allow each council to share what they do with the other students. Honor Council Week is at the beginning of the school year to remind the students to be aware of the honor code while completing assignments and attending classes. “With the honor code, we want everyone to be aware of it and sign it,” Mrs. Nair says. Freshman-senior week is also at the beginning of the year. It is a week run by the seniors where each freshman is paired up with a senior and they do different activities together like going out to lunch and a costume reveal when they meet for the first time. The point of this tradition is to help seniors and freshman bond as well as form a tight relationship with each other. 

Black and Gold week is another fall tradition at Hutchison. Everyday during that week, the black and gold teams are assigned themes for dressing up. Winners are decided at the end of the week for each of the days. Mrs. Nair says,“It’s a really fun competition with the costumes everyday.” Black and Gold day is at the end of Black and Gold week. The two teams go against each other in different activities that can vary every year. 

The advisory costume contest has been a longstanding tradition at Hutchison. For Halloween, every advisory decides on a costume and they all dress up on the designated day. Awards are given out based on the costumes. “I would say in most cases the older girls get into that,” says Mrs. Nair regarding the costume ideas. This contest is a fun way for the Hutchison students to celebrate Halloween at school. 

Mrs. Nair says, “COVID made us really look at what we do and what we really want to keep.” Hutchison has many traditions and events all year long. This year the students are even more excited than they were in the past for these events to take place! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the events were cancelled or postponed to a later date. This year, the school can resume with many of the events that did not happen last year, “I think it is wonderful to have everyone back and for us to be able to do everything! It just feels great!” says Mrs. Nair.