Spirit Weeks happen every year at Rockville High School, but recently participation has been at an all-time-low. Spirit Weeks with different themes to dress up as everyday are done to build students’ excitement for school events such as Homecoming, but it loses effectiveness when not many people participate anymore.
“I honestly think it’s because there’s a lack of communication between each grade, so that could cause, like, some underclassmen not knowing the Spirit Week themes and then only the upperclassmen participating in them,” school-wide SGA Vice President Anna Nguyen said.
As Vice President, Nguyen, and the rest of the SGA, has a large role in planning for Spirit Weeks. They propose a list of theme ideas that then need to be approved by Principal Roshanda Pyles and administrators. Coming up with the right themes can be difficult, however, as officers must find a balance between how unique and how easy to do a theme is.
“Even if we try doing something unique, there’s, like, a lot of setbacks that we have to account for,” Nguyen said. “And the boring ones like pajama day are easier because a lot of students also have access to those, like, materials and clothing.”
SGA officers have class sponsors to advise them on what may or may not be acceptable themes too, as they can provide their insight from observing Spirit Week as a teacher.
“As long as it’s appropriate, and certainly the spirit of it is, sure you have to consider intent,” SGA senior class sponsor David Akatu said. “But I think for the most part you give students, you know, the benefit of the doubt that they are trying to do it for the positive reasons.”
Beyond finding the perfect themes, Spirit Week also relies heavily on its promotion for participation. Akatu notes that seniors generally tend to lead participation the most as students, freshman in particular, usually do not know about Spirit Week.
“I think there’s this assumption that people just know things and people have information,” Akatu said. “So when there’s that vacuum or that assumption that everyone knows something and no one’s actually said it, then you have these spaces where people have no idea what’s going on.”
Although participation may be low, Spirit Week still seems to have its benefits.
“I think over the course of the year, it’s 180 days, is to try and make this place interesting and not feel monotonous,” Akatu said. “I think in the long term, you think about these weeks that sort of break up the routine, and I think in that sense, it does pay off for sure.”
To further increase participation surrounding Spirit Week, many students have proposed adding prizes for which class has the most participating students, but some already enjoy participating without the need for incentives.
“I think some people don’t do it because they don’t think it’s cool or it’s fun, but I think it’s actually the other way,” senior Anastasia Dakoulas said. “People who don’t participate are actually the ones that are being lame or not cool.”
She views Spirit Week as a great way to show school enthusiasm and connect with the school community.
“We’re only in high school once and we only have this opportunity to participate so often, and I think it’s just fun,” Dakoulas said.
