On Friday, April 25, classes and athletic commitments will be called off in honor of the newly reformed Non Sibi Weekend, which will take place that Friday and Saturday. All students will be required to participate in the programming using an online sign-up system. Unlike past years where students were able to choose any project, they will instead have to pick an activity that falls under their grade’s theme, according to a previous article in The Phillipian. Juniors will focus on children and families, Lowers on the environment and sustainability, Uppers on hunger and Seniors on homelessness and housing, according to Monique Cueto-Potts, Director of Community Service. “These are the main social issues that are addressed by a lot of our programming throughout the year. The whole point of revamping this was that it will have a closer tie to what we do throughout the year,” she said. Students who do not sign up will be randomly placed in a project. Cueto-Potts said that this random assignment may conflict with athletic and music obligations on Saturday, which is why it is critical for students to sign up on their own as soon as possible. If assigned to a project that conflicts with a scheduled game, then the student will be required to attend the Non Sibi project. Students will receive an email with instructions and a link to sign up today, and they will have until 10:30 p.m. on April 7 to sign up for a project. Non Sibi Day was created in 2007. Originally, it involved the entire student body and occurred the second week of school. From its inception, the day has taken many different forms. Last year, only new students were required to participate in the program. “We felt as though we needed to revamp the program so all students were participating again,” said Cueto-Potts. “It’s not often that we cancel classes to do something else here, and so I really hope that students are present during that time and really appreciate and are grateful for having a few hours out of one day to go and do something they wouldn’t normally be doing and to learn about issues that are affecting a lot of people and all of us in some way.”
