Where did all the spirit go?

Girls weightlifting made states. The varsity cheer team made nationals for the fourth year in a row. Boys soccer made the district finals.

Despite this, there was hardly a peep of support for any of them besides the occasional “Good luck.” and “Hope you do great.”

As we enter the darkest part of the year, filled with projects and standardized tests, a little school spirit is needed. We have only had a few senior crown days and two pep rallies, both of which were in the fall and centered around football. It just feels wrong to only celebrate the football team when other sports are doing just as well, if not better, and they go with much less recognition. It is a disappointment at best and an injustice at worst.

Last year, the varsity baseball team made it to the FHSAA state championship game and was positioned to become the first team besides varsity cheer to win a state championship since the varsity basketball team did it in 2013. There were no events to support them, unlike the football team, who lost to Bartram Trail in the first round of the district playoffs. Clearly we have teams that are as successful, if not more successful than the football team, so it stands to reason that they too should have an event of some sort that recognizes their athletic achievements.

One easy solution would be to add two second semester pep rallies. One would be to honor the winter sports and another would not only end the year, but also honor the spring sports. It will give students an opportunity to let loose and compete for the spirit stick more and, in addition, allowing the winter and spring teams to receive the attention they deserve, if only for one day.

However, this issue is not entirely about admiration providing us with more pep rallies. As a student body, we are lacking in second semester spirit as well. Basketball games, especially against Oviedo, are proof that we can be a spirited group after December. However, that spirit has never been able to spill over into our regular school day. It is sad to see that much potential go wasted. One way to do this, at least for seniors, is by increasing the number of crown days.

One of the reasons why senior crown days occur so rarely is due to a strong dependency on other school spirit events. Perhaps the senior class, leadership, and even the student section can work to plan crown days for the second half of the year. This would remove the dependency on events like homecoming and big football games. We already get excited about a monthly Cupcake Friday. Let’s make crown days a scheduled event too.

Football games are a big part of the school spirit experience, and they should be, but there is more to high school than just football. Our school has a number of successful teams—basketball, baseball, lacrosse and many more have had their own major successes, and it is time we honor them for their contributions.

This time of year is filled with reasons why we shouldn’t be excited, The FSA, AP Tests, and EOCs are just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe a bit more school spirit will be just what we need. It’s time to bring school spirit to the second semester.