Jupiter High School (JHS) has many spirit days and weeks throughout the school year. However, in recent years, many of our students have lacked participation, causing our school spirit to decline.
JHS’s Student Government Association (SGA) sets up and runs our spirit weeks. Most recently, we had our fall pep rally and spirit week. The themes were: Class Color, Adam Sandler Day, Country versus Country Club and Generation Day.
The world of social media has changed our perspective on what constitutes fun. Instead of focusing on making memories and having fun with friends, people are more consumed by what their image looks like.
“Some people don’t dress up because they think it’s embarrassing or they just forget,” Ricki Phipps, a freshman in SGA, said. “People also think it’s cringy to dress up because of the internet.”
Most of SGA’s themes are very specific and entertaining to see students’ interpretations of; however, many students find that complicated themes are hard to pull off. Some of these include cowboy versus country club, generation day and character days.
“I think it would make it easier for everybody if the themes were broader, and it would be easier to dress up instead of having to get specific clothes to do so,” Kristen Cuomo, junior, said.
Every year, there are themes repeated, but the more times they are reused shows the fewer number of students dressing up.
“I do think that they are repetitive every year, but it does keep the tradition and spirit of JHS together,” Madden said.
Dressing up brings JHS’s community together, uniting students of all grades and allowing them to show their creative side.
“It’s important to dress up to show your school spirit in general, but it also helps bring us together as a student body when people are complimenting others’ outfits or teaming up for duo days,” Estella Lavrik, senior in SGA, said.
Most of our spirit weeks lead up to exciting events like pep rallies, holidays and breaks. All of these have their own themed days that build up the anticipation and excitement.
“I think spirit weeks are a fun way to spread spirit around the school and get people excited for upcoming events,” Phillips said.
Spirit weeks are a great way to show your personality and passions as well as make fulfilling memories of you and your peers for the future.
“People wouldn’t remember ten years from now that you dressed up like a baby, so do it, dress up and have fun, make good memories to share with your kids in the future,” Phillips said.
Spirit weeks are very important for community building and to connect students; however, some of the themes are difficult to dress up for without buying new clothing. More people should try to dress up when they can, but overall, spirit weeks are important and our school should have more involvement.
