As everyone arrived on the first day of Spirit Week on Jan. 6, a low level of participation in our school’s Spirit Week stood out.The lack of interest, involvement and knowledge of Spirit Week was obvious.
This year SGO delayed Spirit Week. In early December, they announced the Winter Spirit Week was postponed until January after Winter Break due to it interfering with students’ plans.
This year, SGO chose the following themes for Spirit Week:
Monday: Dress as your Type
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Student / Teacher Swap
Thursday: Dress as a Movie Character
Friday: Pajama Day
How many people were seen wearing lively attire for the theme of Spirit Week? Unfortunately, the answer is not many. Are students just too tired to bother after winter break?
Well, there are many reasons like poor planning on the part of SGO, as they made it before the semester ends and Regents week. This wasn’t the first time Spirit Week was poorly planned at the last minute. This happened last year and a lot of students did not participate. But this year’s poor planning led to one of the school’s worst Spirit Weeks.
And students themselves aren’t entirely to blame for the lack of school spirit. Even SGO students didn’t participate in Spirit Week. Even my friends and I didn’t participate since we didn’t know it was Spirit Week.
Next year it must change. The information and organization surrounding these activities should be announced to make them more engaging for students and easier for school staff. The students should also be able to choose what the themes should be, not only SGO members. This way more students can participate.
While the Spirit Days are attempts to try and make school more fun by offering students a chance to show their creativity, some would rather not join in. Something that makes Spirit Week fun is if everyone participates.
Spirit Week is a memorable and an exciting high school experience, and we recommend that SGO plans it better. Students should make the most of their four years by participating in it!
