Togas and Cowboy Hats Take Over Albertus Magnus

When students at Albertus Magnus High School were getting ready for school Wednesday morning, they packed their normal items, like book bags, pens, notebooks, togas and, of course, sticks with stuffed horse heads on the end of them.

It's spirit week at Albertus Magnus, culminating with the school's homecoming celebration this Saturday, when it will host a homecoming mass at 4 p.m. and family barbecue at 4:45. The girls soccer team then plays at 6 p.m. and the boys soccer team plays at 8. The homecoming football game is Friday night at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, it was dress up day at the Catholic school, allowing students to wear something other than their uniforms to school. The seniors dressed in togas, while the three younger grades each got a different type of salad dressing to use for their inspiration.

"We're all seniors," Samantha Lowney said. "It's kind of sad it's our last year. We've got to go all out for it."

The togas came in varying length, some just regular-length plain white shirts, others were white dresses that went partially down the leg and others flowed to the floor.  Many wore gold accessories, like headbands, necklaces and belts, while other wielded swords and covered up with helmets.

"This is like our Christmas," Andrew Capul said.

Juniors were to wear clothes inspired by ranch dressing, so there were lots of cowboys and cowgirls wearing hats, boots and tons of flannel. Other juniors dressed up as Native Americans, walking proudly through the halls with vibrantly-colored headdresses.

"I heard some people even dressed up as cows," Anthony Tantillo said. "I'd imagine that'd be kind of sweaty, though, having to sit in school all day in that costume."

Tantillo wore a brown cowboy hat with a tucked in red flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off, and a red bandana tied around his neck. After school he was speaking with fellow ranchers Kristin Pelatti, who wore a tan flannel shirt with brown boots, and James Mackey, who was in a green flannel shirt and yellow cowboy hat. All three agreed they'd prefer to dress up as cowboys and cowgirls everyday than wear their regular school uniform.

"It's just fun to see how everyone came into school today," Pelatti said.

Other juniors walked, or better yet, moseyed around the halls with a toy stuffed horse, in which a horse's head is attached to a stick so you can "ride" the animal around.

The freshman got Thousand Island dressing, and Mackey said he saw many of them wearing Hawaiian hula skirts. The sophomores had Italian dressing, which Mackey said led to many outfits inspired by the MTV reality show "Jersey Shore."

Today is Albertus Magnus' Color Day, where all the grades are given their own color to wear and decorate their hallways. The grade that wears the most and decorates the most in its specific color is selected as the winner. Multiple students said it's the biggest event of Homecoming Week.

"The hallways are all covered in colors," Lowney said. "It just gets crazy."