Four weeks ago, Spirit Week came and went at Morgan, but you would hardly know it. The hallways were filled with one’s average everyday outfit, with specks of class color around. But that wasn’t happening everywhere. Daniel Hand High School students were the complete opposite; colorful and spirited outfits would be seen through the halls.

Spirit week isn’t always as dead at Morgan. The start of the school year at Morgan is the most active in spirit.

Before school starts, a freshman orientation called STEP (Summer Education Transition Program) is held. That Friday is the day when everybody dresses up in the freshman class’s school color. Students paint themselves, and have all kinds of accessories on them.

“For STEP definitely, we want the freshmen to feel welcomed and want them to be like, we are a community, and we’re all together,” said Johnson.

Homecoming week is also a big week for spirit. Duos running for homecoming court have to go all out for this spirit week to be able to earn the title of homecoming court for their grade.

“During homecoming weeks… we’re just getting excited for a dance we all look forward to,” said Johnson, “It’s also typically a theme that we all can do, and all want to do.”

Homecoming week isn’t just for the people running for homecoming court, though. Due to the excitement of Homecoming that Saturday, the whole school goes all out.

However, when April break comes around, students are ready to leave. For some people, spirit days are a waste of time and money.

“It’s ’cause nobody thinks it’s fun, and people think it’s cringy,” said Kate Abbott, a sophomore at The Morgan School, “Nobody really wants to participate.”

While this is one belief among students, they may also feel afraid to participate. The hypothetical situation in which a student may be the only one dressed up drives them away.

“It’s only with the fact that’ other students’ might make fun of me,” said Bridget Johnson, a sophomore at The Morgan School, ”It’s that I’m gonna be singled out, and I don’t really like that.”

However, at Daniel Hand High School, there is no reason not to participate.

“School spirit is one of the few things that truly brings my school together, and it can be seen in moments like our pep rally,” Gedeon LaRiviere said, a senior at Daniel Hand. “While this separates the grades into groups, it becomes a giant school-wide activity that allows for inclusivity and fosters a more positive environment.”

One of the spirit days at Daniel Hand is a day dedicated to every grade, similar to how Morgan has color wars. Students, typically seniors, cover themselves in paint in their class color to take photos, run throughout the hallways, and have a pep rally with games.

While this separates different students into their grades, the excitement of the spirit day brings them all together.

Seniors, especially at Daniel Hand, make sure that the underclassmen feel the energy that comes with spirit week. “The atmosphere of students trying to run from paint-filled seniors grinning from ear to ear is something that I will never forget,” said LaRiviere.

However, at Morgan, students are more concerned with the days chosen for spirit weeks.

“A lot of the spirit days are reused, and it’s fun to do it the first time,” Abbott said, “like last year…But then this year, when it’s like, oh, let’s do it again…that’s just boring. It’s not…original.”

The typical spirit days at Morgan consist of Blue Out, USA Day, Color Wars, Country vs Country Club, etc. The repetition of spirit days is one of the reasons students aren’t going all out on spirit days.

For example, homecoming week last year had USA day, color wars, country vs country club, and neon day.
Some were featured during this year’s homecoming week and spring break spirit week.

On the contrary, even when repeating spirit days, Daniel Hand gets creative.

“One specific story…involves the spirit day that was for a performative male theme day,” said LaRiviere, “To my amazement, I walked into school and saw my friends all wearing wired headphones and drinking matcha.”

The term “performative male” refers to a man who pretends to inherit traits solely for female attention. What was once a niche topic soon grew tremendously in fame, becoming a huge TikTok meme.

The “performative male” aesthetic consists of wired earbuds, matcha, and listening to casual and relaxing female artists.

LaRiviere didn’t want to let his peers down, so he decided to go all out. He walked into school with his wired earbuds, a matcha drink in one hand, and an MP3 player in the other. Seeing how his peers and friends went all out, he felt the need to participate.”

This greatly differs from the spirit days featured at Morgan. This allows students to get extra creative, and relates to a modern trend. It was an effective way to boost participation.

For homecoming week of 2023, a brand-new spirit day was introduced. Barbie vs. Oppenheimer. This spirit day was a reference to the two movies that were released at the same time, The Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer. Students were motivated to participate because the spirit day was new and creative.

Since then, there has been no truly creative day like this. Introducing modern trends into spirit days could be a possible way to boost participation, as seen in Performative Male Day and Barbie vs. Oppenheimer Day.

Due to the fact that spirit days are so popular at Daniel Hand, it brings the student body together and improves the overall well-being of students.

“I feel that in my school the benefit is more about having fun, as it should be,” said LaRiviere, “The enjoyment and feeling of being able to express ourselves during the spirit days are what make them so special and vital to a school’s environment.”

Spirit days are a fun way to express oneself. They bring energy up and make people feel welcome. However, students at Morgan are too afraid to express themselves during these days.

“I feel like it would just bring us, make us feel more connected. A lot of us probably don’t have shared interests, or do, and we just don’t know it,” said Johnson, “If we all dress up, then maybe you’ll start learning that maybe someone likes the same sports team as you.”