During the week of April 28, Jabberwocky members ran their annual fundraiser, Sonnetpalooza, where students can purchase sonnets that club members perform throughout the day to teachers and classmates.
Members barge into classrooms equipped with kazoos, confetti, bubbles, and mythical outfits. They bring smiles to faces and sometimes even embarrassment through their sonnets. All proceeds go to funding Jabberwocky’s literature and art magazine, a collection that students put countless hours into making.
“We all get together. We dress up in Shakespearian, Elizabethanware. This year [was] Grecian wear,” senior and Jabberwocky co-editor-in-chief Sarah Bagonis said. “We go to classes, and then we read the sonnets out, and we throw roses, we throw glitter, pompoms, and play kazoos. It’s all really fun.”
Sonnets could be created on any theme—promposals, enemies, friends, crushes, anything you can think of. Those who purchased sonnets could provide specific information to be included in custom sonnets or select a sonnet that members of Jabberwocky had pre-written.
Started in 2023, Sonnetpalooza is a rapidly growing tradition at Haven, only getting bigger and better since its creation.
This year, for the first time, the group even sold sonnets at varsity arts night.
“I’m going to try and get as many other people as I can because having more marketing is definitely going to get more sonnets,” freshman Scarlett Rein said. “As exciting as it was this year to do all of them, I can’t wait to see how much bigger it could be if we got more people in on the team and we’ve made more of a big deal about it.”
Despite being a newer tradition, subjects of its magic find the event to be unique and fun.
“I’ve worked at several high schools in my career, and I’ve never seen anything quite like Sonnetpalooza,” art teacher Ms. Kate Plows said. “I tell colleagues and friends, it is the most Haven thing I’ve ever seen. Especially with the kazoos. We sort of pride ourselves around here in being a quirky place.”
Sonnetpalooza not only funds Jabberwocky but also allows for a friendly, welcoming environment for students to create beautiful art and make friends in the process.
“There’s a place for everyone in Jabberwocky, whether you like art, whether you are a lit[erature] person, whether you just wanna be with a bunch of your friends and talk about dumb stuff, we’re all here for that, so it’s a big family,” Bagonis said.
Matthew Ramirez ‘26 also contributed to reporting.
