What Calls For a Spirit Week?

The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.

by Katey Kirk, Staff Writer

Many times throughout the year there are spirit weeks. They are usually around holidays to bring extra excitement to the week. These weeks take time to prepare and take time to spread the news about it to the students. Some spirit days are as easy as ‘Pj day’ where you wear your comfy clothes to school. But some can be more difficult and can take time to carry out, like ‘80’s day’.

Janai Rivero and Miranda Cruz show off their minion costumes for costume day. Photo credit: Bill Warfield.

This week, we had a spirit week leading up to Halloween. This came out of nowhere for the students. On Monday it was supposed to be ‘Pj day’ but later on they moved it to Tuesday. Ally Hunt (10) says, “I think it was very unorganized cause they kept changing the days of what things were, and it confused people.” The spirit weeks usually happen around the regular times of the year, but when they change it could lead to some confusion.

Not everyone agrees on what a spirit week should consist of. It’s hard to make themes that everyone will participate in. Skylar Zakrzewski (12) says, “I participate in like 10 percent and mostly that's just pajama day because most of the time I don't know what the days are or they're very vague.” On average, most people don’t participate everyday because it takes a lot of effort to wear a good outfit that goes with the theme.

We have had many different themes over the years, but only a few seem to stick. Audrey Bruntz (10) says, “I really liked frat boy day because my friends and I did it together.” We have only done this theme once at Bradley because it created the conflict of solo cups and how it represented alcohol which is inappropriate for school.

Mr Heinlen smiles for bbq dad vs. Soccer mom day. Photo by Katey Kirk.

John Michael (10) says, “I don’t like decades day because it's too specific and like not everyone has stuff to participate.” The issue of people not having things to participate in is the main reason why people don’t do some spirit days.

Some people do like the ones we do every year. Although some people think that they are overused but math teacher Mr. Heinlen says “My favorite spirit day is class color day because it really shows you which class has the most school spirit.”

Plenty of people have different opinions on spirit days and when, what, where we should do them. But altogether the weeks bring fun to students lives and give them something to look forward to during the school year.