From baggy clothes to class colors, students showed their school spirit during this year’s first spirit week, which concluded last Thursday, August 28th. Organized by the Student Council Association (SCA), the tradition featured a variety of fun and accessible dress days and schoolwide activities that encouraged students to participate regardless of grade level. For student leaders, spirit week marked the culmination of many hours of preparation and meetings meant to bring the school together.

Each day of the week brought new opportunities for students to showcase their school spirit. On Monday, students wore Adam Sandler’s signature baggy clothes, followed by Twin Day, then Marvel vs DC on Wednesday, and finally class colors on Thursday. The SCA chose the themes through multiple votes, considering factors like tradition, excitement, and representation. “We always start with Adam Sandler day, and we had a lot of people dress up for that,” Junior Class President Vishaal Omkaram said. “[For twin day], it was really fun seeing everyone twinning with each other.”

However, deciding on the themes didn’t come without a debate. Throughout their meetings, SCA members proposed a variety of ideas before they were narrowed down to a vote, but not every idea made the cut. “We had a lot of spirit days that we didn’t vote on that we’re going to use for future spirit weeks,” Omkaram said. “[For example], we had Trop Out, but we couldn’t pick that because it is one of our football game days, and we want to have that as a spirit day in the future.”

In addition to the spirit themes, SCA held lunch games, which included activities like musical chairs and chicken launch. Students across grades competed for class points, with the senior class leading with the most points by the end of the week. Spirit week concluded with class colors (freshmen in black, sophomores in gray, juniors in white, and seniors in red) and a pep rally, where the juniors took the spirit stick home.

Despite their success this year, some SCA members already had ideas for improvement in the future. “Something I want to improve next year [is] maybe trying to advertise the spirit days more to get more participation,” Junior Vice President Rithvik Ravishankar said. 

Another primary goal of these spirit weeks is to foster a sense of unity among student bodies. “On our Instagram page, we’ve been posting not only SCA’s participation, but [also] large friend groups’ participation, and it’s nice to see how spirit days bring the community together,” Executive President Shaun Sahayadarlin said. “Our biggest priority is showing people that spirit days are something they should be participating in, and we appreciate that people are [playing a part] in something we celebrate.”

This year’s first annual spirit week showcased not only the students who were involved and the fun they had, but also the creativity and hard work of the SCA in making these celebrations possible for everyone to enjoy.

The next spirit week is scheduled to be the week of Homecoming,  Sept. 15.