Co-Editor-In-Chief
As a senior in high school, I have now participated in four spirit weeks at New Hope. Win or lose, it has consistently been the best week at school.
A common complaint among students at New Hope is the lack of school spirit and overall attitude that has a tendency to develop towards the school. However, this is never the case during Spirit Week. From Monday to Friday, students show up dressed to fit the various themes (which can be seen in this issue), get involved in all of the activities during and after school, decorate their assigned hallways, and raise money for charity while doing so!
While attendance at sports games and other activities throughout the year may lack, during Spirit Week, hundreds of students come out for the annual events, such as the Luau, Open Gym night, hallway decorating, Volleyball tournament, and the “I <3 Techno” dance (when snow doesn’t interfere, that is).
And with this increase of involvement, comes an increase of school spirit and excitement. This means that students bond more than ever and develop an overall sense of comradery with their teammates. The late night hallway decorating, creating acts for the talent show, rooting for each other in the Volleyball tournaments, and cheering each other on during the final games on Friday brings not only entire grade levels closer together, but allows students to get to know teammates in other grades. While negative opinions choose to focus on the division that tends to occur between the students who are on the gold team and blue team, the amount of teamwork and bonding that goes on within each team often goes unnoticed.
Because so many students become very passionate about Spirit Week, tensions tend to rise amongst students. This can create the occasional drama or lapse in judgement. But, this only occurs because the students care so much about Spirit Week; which makes sense when the amount of effort and time students put into having a fun, and hopefully triumphant, week is factored in. It’s because of how much students care that the week is a success. If no one cared, there would be no participation in games or other activities, no fun memories created, no school spirit generated, no money raised for charity, and eventually, no Spirit Week.
The Spirit Week I came to know as a freshman has changed in both slight and drastic ways, for better and for worse. But throughout these changes, the amount of enthusiasm for the best week at New Hope has never ceased. And while there are sure to be more changes in the future, I can only hope that the main aspects of Spirit Week stay the same for students to come: teamwork, school spirit, and giving to others.
