Since the 2023 school year is coming to a halt, it is time to take a ride down memory lane and revisit everything that happened during all three spirit weeks this year. LHS had a very successful year when it came to the participation of the entire school. This year did have a little bump in the road during the spring, and that was when the spring spirit week took place right in the middle of AP testing.

The fall spirit week started off the year with some amazing themes that students had to dress up as for participation. On Monday, it was neon day, and the juniors barely beat the seniors and got first place with 34.7% participation. On Tuesday, the theme was flannel day,” and the seniors earned first place with 66%. On Wednesday, the seniors crushed Adam Sandler Day with an outstanding 80% participation rate. On Thursday, the theme was maroon and white,” and the juniors won the day with 70% participation. Once again, on Friday, the juniors won the class color day with 69%.

That Friday night, the school was hosting a tent decorating competition. The tent decorating contest is where the entire class comes together and decorates a tent with decorations. The class picks a theme, and then all the decorations have to match that particular theme. The tent winner is determined by which tent had the best decorations, the best activities, and the best incorporation of their class color in the design. The juniors had the best decorations and the best use of their class color, but the seniors had the best activities for their tent.

After the fall spirit week was over, all the points from all the classes that they earned by winning events were counted. The juniors had the most points after the fall spirit week with 29. Then it was the seniors with 26, the sophomores with 21, and the freshmen with eight total points for the week.

About two months later, the school got prepared for the winter spirit week, which hosted a bunch more theme days and activities where the classes could win more points. On Monday, it was ugly sweater day, and the juniors won with only 30%. It was Tourist Tuesday, and the juniors won again with a much better showing of 64%. On Wednesday, the seniors won the Ghost of Holiday Past theme with a participation rate of 51%. On Thursday, the juniors won class color day with 76%.

During the winter spirit week, the school hosted a few events that gave the classes additional opportunities to gain more points for their class. The school hosted an escape room that gave each class a chance to get 12 points. The seniors gained the most points (9), followed by the juniors (6), the freshman (5), and then the sophomores (4 points). During lunch throughout the week, the volunteers from the classes went against each other in a series of activities. The juniors and the seniors both earned the same amount of points at 26. The freshman earned 23 points, and the sophomores earned 22 points during these activities.

After the Winter Spirit Week concluded and all the points were tallied for the week, the juniors once again gained the most points with 46. The seniors were close behind with 44 points. The freshmen were next with 34 points, and the sophomores were last with 33 points. With the points combined from the first two spirit weeks, the point leader board was: juniors (75), seniors (70), sophomores (54), and then freshman (42).

Going into the last spirit week, the seniors were down by five points, and they had to make it up during this last week. On Monday, the seniors started off in the right direction and won twin day with a whopping 10%. On Tuesday, it was tie-dye day, and the sophomores came out with a 22.5% win. On Wednesday, the freshman won class color day with 61%. On Thursday, the juniors were back on top with a winning character day of 39.4%.

The school also hosted a powderpuff football game, where the girls play flag football, and the boys cheer, and a pep rally, where the classes once again competed against each other in fun activities to score points. The seniors dominated the juniors in their game, and the freshman defeated the sophomores. These events also help get the class to come together and work with each other to try and win the football game and score the most points for their class. The pep rally is also good because it utilizes part of the class and shows off people’s different skills to help the class by winning and scoring points.

Now that all the fun activities are over, it is time to show recognition to the class that won the battle of the classes. The Class of 2024 finally got to win spirit week after just falling short last year when they lost to the Class of 2022. The juniors won spirit week with a total of 118 points. They beat the seniors (109), the sophomores (87), and the freshmen (71). They worked hard to get everyone to participate this year, and it paid off because it showed everyone that the Class of 2024 has what it takes to win.

Their participation throughout the entire year has been great for the winning class; however, sometimes the participation can get low. Mrs. Bernard is one of the class advisors for the Class of 2024, and she had this to say about their participation this year:

“The Class of 2024 is the best, but some days it would be better if we got more people to participate. Some days it was alright, but it would be great if we got 100 percent.” Mrs. Bernard

Although the Class of 2023 came up short of winning, it was very nice to see the improvement that they made from last year to this year. The previous year, they were almost dead last in all the spirit week days, but this year they turned it around. The juniors were expected to win Spirit Week by a long shot. The seniors put up a good fight, though.

Mr. Campbell is a class advisor for the class of 2023, and he thought that the improvement in participation was a good thing. Campbell said, “We got a little better. I think the more you care about a place, the better it is.”

Everyone can’t be a winner when it comes to spirit week, but that does not take away from the fact that spirit week is super fun for most of the school. Everyone seems to have a good time expressing their love for this school through their participation. There were so many events that took place during Spirit Week that created a bunch of good, everlasting memories in people’s minds. One event that caused some good memories was the pep rally.

“The pep rally was great to see all the kids coming together, and a little friendly competition was fun.” Mrs. Bernard

Although the entire spirit week was very successful in getting people to engage with their class, the spring spirit week came with a big down side: the fact that it was placed right smack dab in the middle of AP testing. This caused interruptions in the announcements on certain days, and overall, the participation levels dropped. Some people would miss call down because they were busy going to their AP test, or the kids that just took a morning AP test are leaving after their test, and they won’t get counted because call down is in the afternoon.

“It made spirit week hard. It made it hard for the AP students. They are primarily focused on the AP tests, and school spirit should come second. I think the fallout from the senior prank also made it difficult to get everyone involved in spirit week.” Mr. Campbell

Last year, spring spirit week was not in the middle of spirit week, which made things much more engaging with the class and less stressful for the upperclassmen. It can be hard for all the stars to align when you are planning a really big event like spirit week, but it just stinks when people have to manage AP tests and participate in spirit week.

“I appreciate all the work that Gauvin and Ollquist put in to organize the spirit week, but I wish it had been the week before vacation. I understand that scheduling is difficult, but I would like it to go back to the way that it was, the week before April vacation.” Mrs. Bernard

Either way, spirit week is a very good way to bring the class together as a whole. The themes that people dress up for and the events that require competition to win are very good ways to raise school spirit in the school. It is a very good thing that Mrs. Gauvin and Mrs. Ollquist organized spirit week for everyone. When spirit week is happening, it makes school a much more enjoyable place to be.