Showing off school spirit has been enthusiastically encouraged for decades, especially within the BHS School community. BHS hallways were a sea of color and creativity in spirit weeks past, but ever since Covid-19 cases shut down schools, recent spirit weeks haven’t had the same influence and involvement as they used to. Some believe that spirit week is one of the most exciting weeks of the school year, but not everyone holds the same opinion.
“Since Covid, spirit week has declined,” confirmed Ms. Troy, the Student Council advisor. “When we came back from Covid, we didn’t have a full class of kids in the building. Covid affected the younger kids seeing the older kids and how it went. If the older kids weren’t participating because of Covid, the younger kids weren’t seeing what they were supposed to emulate.”
Even some of the most spirited members of the Braintree High community recognize that problem.
“I always found it fun but I think that the seniors when we were underclassmen weren’t all that into it,” explained Norah Downey, a senior who was once crowned ‘most spirited freshman.’
With a clear understanding of the problem, Student Council is attempting to raise the standard once again and increase participation. They have a few methods of doing so.
“We do announcements every single morning,” said Ms. Troy, but a flaw does arise when not everyone hears or pays attention to them after the first bell rings. “It’s super helpful that Principal Kuether called all families to remind them.”
Reminders are important, and the Student Council and Student Body are emphasizing them. Student body president, Angelina Tzeng, discussed their efforts around that.
“To get more engagement we are trying to post more on Instagram. I don’t know if many people have necessarily noticed, but we have been posting a lot more than years prior, and are trying to engage the students more in how we post.”
She hopes that students will see the stories and posts as reminders to dress up. Additionally, the chance of being posted on the student body Instagram serves as a motivator to some to go all out if they hope to get noticed.
Of course, though, some are just motivated by good spirit.Parading through the halls with BHS pride is senior Lucy Nguyen. Lucy has exemplified true spirit for underclassmen to idolize, from wearing a spa mask on Pajama Day, to being fully decked out in a yellow chicken costume for Color Wars.
When asked about what fueled her school spirit, she happily elaborated, “Well, we’ve been here for 4 years and it’s our last year. Besides, you can’t get away with dressing like this in a workplace, so I think the real spirit is just letting your creativity loose and making fun memories with your friends.”
For some, though, creativity is not the largest factor. Senior Alia Omar agrees with Lucy’s reasoning for going all out senior year, yet she hasn’t done the same. Alia explained some limitations that arise from Spirit Week.
“Yeah of course I wanted to go all out for Spirit Week, especially since it is our last year in the school and I want to have fond memories. But it can be hard to participate in. Most times I have to buy accessories or clothes for Spirit Week because of the specifications for the Spirit Days, and I honestly do not want to spend money on stuff I know I won’t use again.”
With cost and waste being a factor to consider when partaking in Spirit Week, it makes sense why some students choose not to fully participate. However, with days like Pajama Day and Blue and White Day, cost is less of an issue, since most people have pajamas and some blue and white in their closet.
For these days, Norah Downey says, “Most people have stuff lying around their house that fits the theme. You could go out and buy stuff but you don’t have to.”
If more Spirit Days were framed after these more inclusive days, then there is a possibility that more kids will participate, since they wouldn’t have to go the extra effort of shopping and buying accessories.
Junior Keira Carrara is happy to see participation thanks to the efforts of the student council and student body.
“You can definitely tell that the seniors and juniors are more spirited than the freshman and sophomores, but I think it was better than last year.”
