What had started as a “normal” fifth period Spanish class for a group of juniors here at Park High quickly escalated as a debate began. “Are you team Peeta or team Gale?”
Heading to fifth period, the word had spread that spanish teacher Daniel McGrath was allowing a study hall for the class so he himself could catch up on some grading. Seven girls in the class decided to head to the conference room next to the library where they usually went whenever it was allowed. In the room there happened to be a TV on cart in the room, and when Alissa Ruebusch figured out how to operate it, they turned it on.
The girls had turned on the TV to see “The Hunger Games” was up and ready to play: seeing it was their only option “we decided to play it so some of us could do homework and the others could just chill” said Megan Ruebusch. “That’s when the debate began,” added Maddie Wise.
The girls said that they couldn’t quite remember who brought up the question, but one of them asked if they preferred Gale or Peeta. Peeta is the second main lead of the movie, the sweet and charming protagonist who is very skilled at art. And Gale is the childhood best friend who took care of the main lead’s family when she went to join the games.
It was fifty-fifty within the group. Some of the girls sided as Team Peeta while others were team Gale. To prove their side, the girls created two tables to show both the pros and cons of each character. Most of their information was based on events from the series, while other comments like “giant ego” were more of their own conclusions made about the characters.
As the girls brainstormed what to write for each character, Analeece Fredrickson wrote a pro of Peeta being “hot in the 2nd movie!!!” Meanwhile the other girls had come up with Gale “Looks amazing doing anything” and Peeta “hides in mud.”
The tables took most of the period to make. “We forgot we were even watching the movie at one point,” says Analeece. “It turned into a whole debate. I even made a poll on my Snapchat story to get more input,” adds Griffin Conn.
Even after the class ended, the debate seemed to go on around school. The tallies were left on the whiteboard for further input, still up until today. Librarian Kate Lende hung posters of both Peeta and Gale in the room next to the poll.
The question remains, are you team Peeta or Gale? Vote on the Park High Geyser webpage and see who wins.