Spirit Week 2023 is in full swing. Themed “Biomes: Pirates Can Thrive in Any Environment,” students have been participating in the annual dress-up days in anticipation of Friday night’s football game against Seneca’s Golden Eagles and Saturday’s school-wide Homecoming dance.
The themed days of Spirit Week allow students an opportunity to showcase their creativity and school spirit by developing outfits to fit each day’s assigned theme.
“When thinking about the Spirit Days, our goal is to get as many students participating as possible. We do not want anyone to feel excluded,” Student Council Advisor Michele Forbes said. “We try to pick days that are not involved with student identity.”
This year’s Spirit Week themes include: Jersey Day, Thriller Tuesday (wear something scary), Way Back Wednesday, Anything But A Backpack Day, and Friday’s Class Color Day with each class dressing in their assigned color.
In addition to dress-up days, each grade is tasked with creating posters in accordance with their selected biome theme. The freshmen selected “Sandy Scenic Desert” and the sophomores “Frozen Tundra.” The juniors are going “Under the Sea” for their biome and the seniors are decorated posters for their “Tropical Rainforest” biome.
In the weeks leading up to Spirit Week, each grade’s Class Cabinet collaborates with their Homecoming Committee to plan, design, and create posters for their assigned hallway, which are all on the first floor this year.
While it can be a stressful time making 10 posters that reflect the biome theme and incorporate Friday night’s competition, it is a time for students to express their artistic abilities and interact with their peers.
“There is a lot of work that goes into the posters. I know that the seniors meet during lunch as well as after school because we want to clutch a win, but it is cool to see how creative everyone gets and I’m excited to see what people come up with,” Student Council Vice President Alex Arnold said.
Apart from the themed days, students and staff are also looking forward to Friday’s Pep Rally, held prior to the Homecoming game. Filled with Pirate pride, the afternoon features friendly competition amongst the different grade levels games through games and performances from the cheerleaders and marching band.
This year’s Pep Rally will feature two new games: Pirate trivia and Pirate Island.
As a Student Council officer, Arnold has been behind-the-scenes planning and preparing for the week’s festivities.
“Now that I am behind the scenes, I realize how it is an everyday commitment for the people who plan the whole week – it has been the only thing on a lot of our minds since we have started the school year,” Arnold said.
In past years, the dance has had various locations – mainly the cafeteria – as well as the courtyard due to COVID- 19. However, this year’s Homecoming dance will be held in a new location, the Commitment Gym. By having the dance in the gym, there are now more opportunities and ideas for decorations, food, and activities.
One setback of having the dance in the gym is the banning of high heels. While these shoes may be part of one’s dress attire for the dance, there is a major risk of the shoes ruining the gym floor. Since damaged floors can be expensive to fix, the administration has banned high heels of any kind inside of the gymnasium.
However, Student Council has a solution for bare feet. Students at the dance will be given complimentary socks they can wear if they do not have their own pair of socks or shoes.
“I’m really excited for the dance to be in the gym this year, we are ready for something new and different,” Forbes said. “The Student Council is providing everybody with a colorful pair of socks and that will add something fun to the night.”
In addition to the excitement of planning and preparing for this year’s Homecoming, there is also the return of a familiar face in Student Council: Ms. Mary Orphanos. She was a former class advisor for the classes of 2004 and 2008. After taking some time away from Student Council, Orphanos said she is back to make the school year the best it can be for students.
“I am looking forward to guiding our student council officers from behind the scenes and letting them take the reins,” Orphanos said. “Right now we are getting ready for Homecoming, so for Student Council, Forbes and I do all things Homecoming from getting the food, getting the DJ, getting all the spirit days together, as well as working behind the scenes with the officers in order to pick the themed days and the games for pep rally in order.”
Orphanos joins Forbes, who has been an advisor for 28 years, as this year’s Student Council advisors. Together with the student officers, the team will organize and plan this year’s Homecoming events.
Kick-off for Friday night’s football game against Seneca is at 6 p.m. while Saturday’s Homecoming dance will begin at 7 p.m.
