Recently, school spirit has been a prevalent topic of discussion among students and staff. A lack of enthusiasm at pep rallies in previous years inspired a new push for school spirit on campus.
This year Red Nation, an organization on campus with the goal of boosting school spirit, was created by English teacher Emily Strauss. One way the organization tries to increase spirit is by putting up spirit posters around campus.
“I think that [the posters] are really working,” student body president Gabrielle Gutwein said. “We’ve still got a long ways to go, but it’s not too bad anymore.”
Student council and the cheerleaders also play a role in encouraging school spirit. Student council decides what the homecoming spirit days will be each year, but the cheerleaders decide all of the other spirit day themes. Senior varsity cheerleader Alana Essex said that school spirit is important to her.
“When you see other people working hard at what they do, you want to support them,” Essex said.
She said she has seen spirit improve in the four years she’s been on campus.
“[Being a cheerleader] definitely made me a lot more spirited,” Essex said. “I love going to all the events and cheering for everyone.”
The content of the pep rallies has changed due to cheerleading coach Britanee Brown trying to reach out to a wider range of groups on campus to participate. Those who responded include drum line, Empire club and Fusion.
“I started asking students ‘what do you want to see?’ at the pep rallies because the way I planned it may not be the way you want them to be,” Brown said.
When she first started working on campus three years ago, Brown noticed a culture with a “dry sense of spirit” and low spirit levels among the cheerleaders.
“I knew that [school spirit] was something that I had a desire to build,” Brown said. “I didn’t really know how to change the spirit in such a large environment, but I knew it started with my cheerleaders.”
Students on campus also have ideas on how to increase spirit levels. Sophomore Lani Kochler said she would increase spirit by having the administration give rewards for participating in spirit activities. Last year gift cards were given to the most spiritedly dressed students at some of the pep rallies.
“I think [school spirit] is important because it gets people excited and proud, and will maybe help them work harder,” junior Emily Johanan said. “I just don’t participate in school spirit. I’m not really sure.”
Junior Jennifer Garcia shows her school spirit by dressing up for most spirit days.
“I think that school spirit is important because it supports our school and supports all of our teams,” Garcia said. “It just shows that we care about our school and that we’re here to win.”
