Northwood students are often busy with sports and academic commitments, but the community still gets to unwind and hang out during their spare time. One of Northwood’s staple weekend activities is the bonfire, which is often accompanied by s’mores and music from one of the students’ campfire playlists. The bonfire tradition rekindled on the first Friday of the school year, and many students from all different sports, countries, and cultures stopped by and gathered around the firepit to enjoy the clear evening. Every year, bonfires are one of the best ways to establish Northwood student culture for both new and returning students.

The bonfire tradition is new to our first-year students, and the feedback has been quite positive. Penny St-Pierre ‘27 is a new sophomore, and she recounted a fun experience over the weekend bonfire. “A lot of people at Northwood are too shy at first to talk to each other, but at the bonfire with everyone, you have more confidence because we’re all gathered there. We had a lot of fun when we started throwing marshmallows at different teams,” she said.

Unfortunately, the marshmallow fight eventually was shut down. She does have a few suggestions to improve the tradition: “We don’t have a lot of lights around the firepit, and we can’t see very well since it’s so dark outside. It would be easier to have fun if we could see around us better, so maybe we could have some activities with more lights around. But it was a really fun bonfire,” St-Pierre said.

Marie-Jeanne Cazes ’25 also had her first Northwood bonfire experience and said that it “was really fun and a good opportunity to meet new people. I would surely want to do it again.” Marie-Jeanne also recommends adding “more chairs around the fire and a big speaker” to improve the experience.

Bonfire nights have been a steady constant for our returning students, and they are known for connecting the community. Laura Dyke ’25 loved her first few bonfires right away, appreciating that “it’s a time where all the students at Northwood can come together.” She loves them as they are currently.

Returning senior Cedric Lemaire ‘25 has a similar point of view, with many fond memories of weekend bonfire nights. They are great opportunities for new conversations to him: “It always has been a time where I find people talking to others they wouldn’t normally talk to. I think they are great, and [we] need more organic events like it where Northwood students can be regular high schoolers,” Lemaire said. When asked whether he’d like to make any changes or additions to bonfire night before graduating from Northwood, Cedric said that he’d want more “events like integrating karaoke into the bonfire.”

The school year’s first bonfire was indeed a joint event with karaoke night, so it is great news that both events went smoothly and were appreciated by the community. Hopefully, there will be more of these weekend events to bring our student body together, and everyone is encouraged to show up and join in the fun!