Prefect Council hosted a Holiday Coffee House to celebrate the winter season after school Dec. 13.

A ten year long tradition, Coffee House provides an opportunity for students and faculty to perform for the school community, whether their act be a musical number poetry recital or stand-up comedy routine.

With Winter Break right around the corner, Junior Prefect Aiko Offner ’23 said the Holiday Coffee House would be a great way to spread cheer and raise spirit among community members.

“We aren’t necessarily going into this Coffee House with a particularly special intent other than making the environment the warm and cozy holiday feeling that only comes once a year,” Offner said. “We don’t want to restrict our performances at all, so there will be all types of songs, skits, and such, but we are looking forward to our holiday-themed performances.”

Sophomore Prefect Dillon Ring ’24 said he decided to perform at Coffee House because he loves playing music with his friends and hoped to contribute to showcase his instrumental talent.

“The piece that I played today was from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Ring said. “I decided to play it since it’s a fun tune that everyone knows. It’s a fun way to perform with your friends and also to listen to my friends and peers perform their own pieces. I enjoy contributing to the community; [it’s] a very special community [and] a very lucky and talented one. I am proud to be part of it.”

Carter Staggs ’23, who performed a stand-up comedy routine, said the event provided a wonderful platform for him to try something new, while still in a smaller casual setting.

“I had an idea for a stand-up comedy set I wanted to flesh out but never had a reason before to actually perform or even write, and the Coffee House seemed like the perfect opportunity to do that,” said Staggs. “Personally, I feel as though the smaller setting of the Coffee House facilitates a relatively lower stress environment and gets more people to perform who might not be comfortable showing their talent to a larger group.”

Aiden Daneshrad ’23, who performed in a group performance as a saxophone player, said the live audience at Coffee House is what made his experience so special.

“I think it was either our drummer Gavin or our piano player Simon [who inspired our performance],” said Daneshrad. “I just enjoy being able to interact with the audience.”