With half of its current campus completed and a small class of freshmen as its first students, Hagerty officially opened its doors in 2005. To build its reputation as a school of excellence, faculty members polished everything from academics, to fine arts, to athletics department. And while there was a clear path for these categories, one important factor was trickier to complete: building school spirit.
“It was just new because none of our kids had been to high school yet. [We] had to teach our kids what a high school looks like. I mean, they had school spirit. They just weren’t like a regular high school,” assistant principal and original staff member Christy Tibbitts-Bryce said.
Now, with the school cementing its rank as the number one high school in Seminole County, it seems like the school’s season of catching up has ended. However, school spirit continues to be a crucial aspect to improve on. A poll done by hagertyjourn showed that 59% of students feel like the school spirit is relatively low. Students are not the only ones—AP government teacher and pep rally emcee Matthew Malkovich has noticed a decrease in school spirit in recent years.
“I have seen a shift [in school spirit] sadly,” Malkovich said. “ I look at the south side of the bleachers that used to be filled with the senior class and [in our first pep rally] it wasn’t even half full.”
Student Attendance
The question is, what prompted this decrease in spirit? Malkovich credits this change to students taking fewer on-campus classes.
“People don’t come to school any more. You have online, you have dual enrollment. Unfortunately, I see the demise of brick-and-mortar schools unfolding,” Malkovich said. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and it’s sad to watch it.”
While U.S. History teacher Julie Duncan does not see as clear of a decrease in spirit, she came up with a similar conclusion: the lack of students has impacted school spirit.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say [spirit has] decreased. It’s just not as exciting as it used to be. And I think part of the reason is because we have so many people that are on and off campus at different times,” Duncan said. “By the end of the day, it just seems as though there’s not as many people on campus and they don’t know as much about the events. I just feel like sometimes it’s just more trouble than it’s worth to some people.”
Student Participation
Senior Nico Garces was first asked to be student section leader through a casual conversation with senior class president Valeria Romero. When the end of his junior year came around, Garces started planning. As this year’s student section leader, Garces plans to create further advertisements for students to get excited about all the games, especially rivalry ones.
Although students taking periods off has contributed to the shift in spirit Garces also attributes this change to leadership issues and a lack of student participation.
“I think the decrease [of spirit], it’s due in part to leadership—some of the student section leaders in previous years, didn’t really immerse themselves in the role, and they didn’t show up half the time,” Garces said. “And then part of it is the students. There’s got to be enough students at the game to make it a fully school-wide thing. It’s a team effort to have that school spirit.”
Senior and varsity cheerleader Peyton Farwig agrees that participation could be better.
“We have a lot of potential to have good school spirit but the majority of the school doesn’t like to participate. I think school spirit is low because most people think they will be judged for participating or they think they’re ‘too cool’ to have some fun with spirit,” Farwig said.
School Efforts
Although there is room for improvement, efforts have already started to increase school spirit for both faculty and students. As a new implementation, Bryce created a calendar of dress up days for faculty members with the hope of highlighting camaraderie within the staff. Dress up days for teachers include What’s On Your Mind Wednesday, Hawaiian Shirt Day, and Western Day to match with the Sept. 13 football game’s theme.
“I have been asked by students ‘Why are all the teachers wearing these random shirts today?’ or, ‘Why are you all dressed in red, white and blue today?’ It’s kind of nice that kids are noticing and maybe if we are publicizing it more and giving prizes like students vote on which department has the best shirts, it can be even better,” Duncan said.
Dress up days are not the only solution though—leadership is planning a school-wide club decorating event, a game carnival and giveaways for homecoming week.
“Homecoming Week is big. Our decoration event [is] so we could get more people participating to share a common goal. We are trying to build spirit, morale and give clubs opportunities to get involved,” leadership secretary Hyatt Hitt said.
Leadership is also working on creating spirit days and planning out events throughout the year instead of only during homecoming and winter week.
“We want other people to get involved, other people to participate, and for school morale to go up,” Hitt said.
Whether it be awaiting students on campus, creating efficient student leaders or encouraging student participation, there is still a long way to go to achieve a higher school spirit. Regardless of the circumstances, faculty hopes for the day that students can, above all, have fun.
“I think it’s important that you have ownership of what you’re doing. Getting a diploma is the ultimate goal of all four classes here, but enjoying that four-year ride of your life that you’re never going to have again is as important,” Malkovich said. “It’s important to be involved in band, it’s important to be involved with theater. It’s important to be involved with sports. I don’t want to discount anything that is done here. We’re doing this together. Let’s celebrate it. Let’s enjoy it. We’re here to work and have fun and learn, and it can all be one big, happy family.”
