This week is spirit week at my school. Unlike most schools we wear uniforms during the overall school year so spirit week is usually a great time to dress down and have fun, but not this year. So far this week it’s seemed like very few people have dressed according to the days or even had fun with the idea. I always try to make at least a small effort to plan out what I’m going to wear and follow through with it on the specified day. I do have to admit that the themes this year were lacking some spirit themselves, but that’s not really what it’s about. The themes for our spirit week are as follows

Monday-Spirit Day (dress in our school colors)
Tuesday- Favorite Teacher Day (dress like your favorite teacher)
Wednesday- Homeroom Theme Day (each homeroom chooses a theme and everyone from the room dresses in that theme)
Thursday- Walk-A-Thon (dress comfy for our annual walk-a-thon to raise money)
Friday-Dress Down for Charity (dress down for 2$ all proceeds go to a charity)

Granted the themes aren’t that terrible, but with the restrictions the administration puts on dress code the level of creativity almost plummets to zero. Some people think of it as a challenge to fit the theme while still obeying rules, some totally disregard the rules and wear whatever they want, but most see the challenge and decide to just wear their uniforms. When I walk through school during a spirit week I want to see class colors EVERYWHERE and almost everybody participating, but at my school that’s just not how it is. As much as people blame the Student Council for not coming up with creative themes it’s really the student’s activity and motivation that makes a spirit week truly shine.

I remember my 9th grade spirit week particularly for one reason. Walking down the halls I saw the simple words “The Spirit is Dead” written on a piece of lined paper in pencil and taped to the wall. The effort that it took to write and hang up that sign could have went to help the student council plan better ideas for spirit week. Being a Catholic school I do realize that our rules are much stricter than most schools, but students should see that as a challenge and not an impediment. We have another spirit week during February, and I hope that more people will take advantage of it. The only people who are to blame for the loss of spirit are the people who walk around without any.

Challenge of the Week: ROCK SPIRIT WEEK

Happy Photographing!
Cate