A float abuzz with festive spirit and school pride decorated by Thomas County Central High School students emerged victorious amongst others in an annual holiday parade lineup.

For the second year in a row, the TCCHS float entry for the Thomasville Christmas Parade earned first place in the “Schools” division. The school won a creative plaque, which included drawn Christmas lights, as well as $100.

Principal Trista Jones said the float truly was “a school-wide effort” and the camaraderie during the project and parade “was very special.”

“We’re glad that our students’ hard work was recognized and rewarded,” she said.

The TCCHS Student Council primarily has been in charge of the float. Also involved this year were members of the TCCHS Guidance Office and the Career, Technical, and Agriculture Education, or CTAE, department.

The float was built and decorated by members of student council and volunteers. It was known as “A Yellow Jacket Christmas.” The float featured blue and gold colors and also had a decorated Christmas tree.

Council member J. Ben Smith helped build the float and donated hay for decorating it.

“We started off by building rails to attach the skirt and side decorations,” he said. “Then, we replaced the flooring on the trailer with plywood and constructed the back of the float.”

Students worked to decorate the float the Monday of Thanksgiving break.

Council member Heaven-Leigh Ferguson helped decorate the float. She thought it “sounded really fun” and “would be a really good experience.” Decorating included making and gluing letters and putting glitter “everywhere.”

“We met for five hours total,” Ferguson said of the Monday session. “We had a lot of fun and threw glitter everywhere.”

Added to the float this year was the school’s homecoming court. Members of student council, the homecoming court, and guidance counselor Melissa Rodgers rode it during the parade. Behind the float walked members of the school’s athletics programs and other student council members.

Ferguson said there were many “really good” floats in this year’s parade. She is proud of the float’s win and thinks one thing that made it stand out amongst the others is “how the decorations supported our school.”

Smith drove the tractor that pulled the float during the parade. He thinks winning first place is “great” and is “proud of how it turned out.” He also said the glitter could have been the float’s secret weapon.

“There was a lot of glitter,” Smith said. “It is kind of hard to miss all that glitter.”