Whether school spirit is alive or not has been a huge debate. A lot of people assume that school spirit died off in our campus due to our sports teams struggling to win games for a long time. But even through the challenges of our sports teams, the Wolf Pack has tried to show their love to our student athletes. As our sports teams gain more wins under their belt, the Wolf Pack’s support and spirit grows larger and larger. Along with the spirt present at sport events, clubs keep school spirit alive during school hours and help make others feel included as well.
One of the main groups keeping the spirit alive on our campus is Leadership. They are a huge factor in school spirit. They work countless hours in and out of class to produce fun activities. Leadership created a section in our football games called the “Blue Crew” where it’s reserved just for students, and it is where the chants and the most fun are during games.
One of the main coordinators of this section this school year is Senior Manu Buatavatava. Buatavatava makes sure that those in “Blue Crew” are having fun. He plays songs like “Love” by Keyshia Cole to keep the students in a positive mood. He says he remembers how everyone was so fun and spirited even through last year’s football games where there were not a lot of wins. He emphasizes how some days he would not feel like being a very spirited person, but when he saw his uplifting actions caused everyone in front of him to be happy it gave him motivation to keep that energy going. Through his experience of keeping those around him positive on our campus, he found himself becoming more spirited as it brings him joy.
Many students go to football games and show their school spirit. Senior Alyssa Fung attends regularly, and she says that Friday Night Lights have added positive experiences in her high school journey. Fung says, “Blue crew very much shows our school spirit as we always dress to theme, and we always chant for our players.” She adds on and says, “Last game was a Homecoming game and a variety of clubs we have like dance team and last week we also had a school rally that highlighted the different clubs our showed me a part of different cultures and their dances.”
West High offers a massive range of clubs from BSU to Mecha. They all highlight diverse cultures and allow for students to embrace their backgrounds while creating new relationships.
Senior Charlotte Gavero is president of API this school year. Gavero explains that her experience of almost four years in API has made her proud of the school she is in as it allows her to venture into her culture and meet new people with the same backgrounds. Diversity has always been a major thing here at West High and being able to be comfortable sharing my culture with those in around our campus makes me both comfortable and happy to be part of the Wolfpack. Gavero states that being part of a club was one of her main highlights in high school. She met new people and got closer to her culture, and she is grateful for such opportunities.
Some may say that the school spirit is dead, but we must realize that as a campus, we must fight to keep it alive regardless of the opinions. School spirit is important because it makes us all on campus more connected and brings us together in a positive way. Who would not want to be on a fun/positive campus?
It also makes others have a sense of belonging which leads to the increase of achievement, confidence, and involvement for our students. Overall, it helps in creating a positive learning environment on our campus for both the staff and students and allows for new relationships to form among people. As a school, we must participate in supporting our school to further spread the positivity around.
