Coordinating chaos. This play on words encapsulates the job of Westminster’s spirit week emcees, the brave faculty members who keep the wild crowds of students on task while simultaneously building up the hype. A play on words on seeing more about the emcees.
For 2026 the two faculty Emcees will be Aron Layton and Jeff Eastham. Layton serves as a middle school Bible upper school history teacher, as well as the coordinator of Minority Community development and inclusion. Eastham is a middle school PE and health teacher as well as a coach in the athletic department.
The emcees’ jobs are very complicated, and involve more work than most people may notice. The emcees also have a wonderful skill set that allows them to handle time management for spirit week very effectively.
According to Steven Ottolini Assistant Director of Student Life Student Council Director
“The emcee’s job is to keep us on schedule, kind of make sure that announcements go out to coordinate who’s doing what, so that especially when we’re transitioning to things like tug of war, for instance it takes a minute to get everybody on the court. […] if we’re gonna do a game like Ultimate Chicken, as soon as they start to announce it, it’s not just getting people on the court. It’s also the cues for the judges and for the right people to be kind of activating stuff to make the program happen.”
Emceeing is such an in-depth craft parts of it are never noticed like behind the scene things which include transitions and announcements. They are required to understand the layout of every single day of spirit week very well or else it could hinder the success of spirit week, but still the emcees are able to do this flawlessly and run spirit week well.
Layton continues this idea.
“Yes. And what makes it difficult is like you have a short period of time. So here you are. You know, I think basically we have about 45 minutes. And you got a ton of stuff. And then there’s things you can’t account for. Like, for example, you can’t account for how long it takes for all the students to get down to the aren, get into their place. You can’t account for let’s say, for instance, if there is some sort of malfunction. […] And so, that puts pressure on time, then you’ve allotted a five minute transition, and now you’re over that five minutes.”
Serving as an emcee for spirit week isn’t about being a logistics manager; it is also about having fun and enjoying all that spirit week brings. Layton states:
“I want to always be a part of Westminster Student life and community life, […] and you know it’s a good way to serve. It’s a good way to use some of the ways God has gifted me. I have an outgoing personality. I love people, and get excited about stuff like Spirit week”
Layton uses the talents God gave him to help the school with spirit week because he finds such enjoyment and fulfillment from the assemblies. Having emcees who are passionate about God and what they are doing furthers what the school stands for. Layton and Eastham’s excitement for the job can be seen from all the student body and staff. The school is incredibly lucky to have wonderful emcees who are very dedicated to this craft, and who are able to delegate and balance responsibility.
When asked about his favorite part of spirit week Layton replied:
“Oh, I do love when seniors come marching in with music. I absolutely love that. It’s like a procession and there’s music playing and I love that. I love the games , and the competitions are super cool. And then I love the performances. […] The performance, I mean first of all, is just phenomenal, even the film projects there’s just so many parts about it. One of the things I love the most, which comes from all of those different things which I just mentioned, is like energy.”
Layton and Eastham both bring different valuable skills to the table. Westminster is lucky to have them both as emcees this year. The 2026 emcees are both people who have always been very dedicated to spirit week and the school. Spirit week is in the hands of good people who are able to balance the responsibility and charisma required to maintain the hype and tame the chaos.
