The football field is cascaded in bright lights, assisting students with finding suitable spots to lay their blankets out to relax before the movie begins rolling. As the field slowly begins filling up with students from all five high schools in the district, Student Council members begin setting up the projectors and screens to have the movie ready by the time the audience settles.

StuCo decided on the idea of hosting a movie night for a fundraising event in December. Preparations for it began shortly after the decision was made to play “High School Musical 3” at the LISD Movie Night at Max Goldsmith Stadium.

“We had to make sure the other schools were meeting their deadlines so we could better prepare ourselves for this event,” student body treasurer senior Matthew Jimenez said. “I [expected] this event to run pretty smoothly for everyone to sit back and enjoy the movie. Also, it [was] nice to see students interacting with other students from different schools in LISD.”

Because the funds are going to the Leela Foundation, it helped with the positive attitudes toward the event and motivated students to bring as many of their friends as possible.

“Three or four leaders from every high school in LISD meet once a month with Dr. Rogers to find a charity they want to donate to,” StuCo adviser Allison Stamey said. “They do one fundraiser a year [to raise money] like last year was the Mr. LISD, this year it’s the movie night.”

While the event had been planned in advance with the student body voting on the movie to watch, the choice of movie wasn’t appealing to every student. Students were still able to enjoy the event by spending time with their peers.
“I’m not a huge fan of High School Musical but I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends during the event,” senior Keith White said. “Even if you didn’t like the movie, there are tons of people from different schools to interact with and get to know.”

The opportunity to meet new people from various schools was the main attraction for students. People from throughout the district showed up to this event with the expectation of meeting someone new or catching up with old friends who attend another school.

“It was really nice to be connected to the other schools through their Student Councils,” Jimenez said. “This was fun to plan out and it feels great to know I have had a huge contribution to this event.”