By J1 Reporter Grace Specht

The Class of 2024, future Marian girls, experienced a Marian Mini-Surprise Night on Oct. 5. Mini-Surprise Night has been a Marian tradition since 2009. Mini-Surprise Night gives future Marian girls a glimpse into Marian’s Surprise Day tradition. Surprise Day is a day in the second semester where the whole student body and teachers are surprised with a day full of various activities such as; cotton candy machines, massages, dance party, face paint, and much more. 

The event consists of various activities from dance parties to manicures. “The dance party was fun because I got to dance with all my new friends,” Saint Margaret Mary’s eighth grader Ellie Fogarty said.

“Meeting new people that will be in my 2024 class was the best part,” Saint Margaret Mary’s eighth grader Phoebe Meier said. Meier said she also liked connecting with her Marian big sisters, Class of 2022.

Marian’s Recruitment Director, Mrs. Molly Woodman, spends months in advance planning this fun-filled event. She starts with purchasing and renting  supplies. She rents a cotton candy machine and a bounce house. Next, she works with an Omaha local designer, Jill Rizzo. Rizzo helped design the T-shirt and the invitation. The T-shirt this year was a dark grey with white, pink, and grey letters. The cost of the event is $10, which covers the cost of the shirt. 

To come up with the details of the event Woodman works with the recruitment team members who work the event.  “The planning was pretty laid back, we just met together as a large group and threw out any creative ideas that we had,” sophomore Audrey VanDyke said. 

Once they were at Marian they split into their designated station. Sophomores Anne Masek and Van Dyke worked the minute-to-win-it challenge. The game included challenges such as stacking as many gold coins on a popsicle stick that was in your mouth in a minute. Another challenge was wrapping their partner in streamers and whoever wrapped their partners the most in a minute won candy.  

“We had a super fun time, and although not that many girls won the minute-to-win-it challenge, we gave them all candy anyways!” VanDyke said.

Marian’s Mini-Surprise Night is an event for eighth graders who are deciding on which high school to attend.