Spirit Week featured five days of festivities and fun from Sept. 26 to Sept. 30 despite a reduction in the number of rallies. Seniors were declared champions with 12,900 points, followed by juniors, sophomores and freshmen, respectively.
Senior and ASB treasurer Vivian Trach said, from an organizational perspective, she was happy with how the week progressed.
“I think Spirit Week went really well compared to last year,” Trach said. “We had an order of things, and there was a very clear system. Everything just came together really well.”
Trach said ASB faced a challenging shortened timeline with Spirit Week at the end of September.
“Typically we have Spirit Week a complete month later, so we actually had a lot less time to plan and had to readjust with the changed spirit week schedule,” Trach said.
Trach said ASB pushed to keep the traditional Spirit Week experience as much as possible amidst Paly administration’s concerns over recent student behavior.
“ASB was working hard with administrators to try and gain what we can for rallies,” Trach said. “Our main response was trying to work with admin to find a solution that they would enjoy and students would enjoy.
Day 1
Spirit Week kicked off with theme day and a best-dressed competition. The themes were “Y2K” (early 2000s) for seniors, “Minions” for juniors, “Stranger Things” (80s) for sophomores and “The Lorax” for freshmen.
Senior Evie Barclay said she was indifferent to the cancellation of the Monday and Tuesday lunch rallies.
“I’m glad that we have two, but I don’t think we necessarily need more than two,” Barclay said.
Day 2
Sophomores won the “best-dressed” competition at brunch for the second day in a row on Day 2 of Spirit Week. The theme was “Dressing Day” with “healthy choice” for freshman, “ranch dressing” for sophomores, “green goddess” for juniors and “caesar dressing” for seniors.
Senior Allegra West said she wished there were a spirit rally at lunch.
“I’m kind of disappointed because spirit rallies are one of the best (parts) of Spirit Week,” West said. “The toga spirit rally for seniors would have been fun to do. Right now, Spirit Week is less spirited.”
Sophomores and seniors remained in first and second place, respectively. Juniors caught up with freshmen to tie for third.
Day 3
Day 3 of Spirit Week featured the week’s first spirit rally, which was held inside the gym. Each class, dressed in its class color, competed in “Name Those Lyrics,” “Hungry Hungry Hippo” and “Balloon Pop Relay.”
Freshman Katherine Zaner said she was surprised by the intensity of her first high school spirit rally.
“It was really loud and chaotic. I didn’t understand most of it because it was my first one and I couldn’t see a lot of the time,” Zander said.
Seniors claimed the lead with 5,400 points and were trailed by the sophomores, who had 4,900 points.
Day 4
On Day 4 of Spirit Week, the cheer team, teachers and dance team performed during the lunch rally at the football field.
English teacher Marc Tolentino said he enjoys the teacher dance.
“I always like being a part of it because it’s a way to enjoy spirit week for teachers,” Tolentino said. “It’s a busy time for us during this time, so it’s a good time to take a minute to make sure the students can have a lot of fun.
Day 5
On Day 5 of Spirit Week, class floats were presented during the after-school rally at the football field.
Each class also performed its class dance at the rally. Seniors placed in first, followed by juniors, sophomores and freshmen, respectively.
During halftime at the Homecoming football game, seniors performed their spirit dance, and each class float was exhibited.
Additional reporting by Rachel Feinstein, Christie Hong, Dhruv Shetty and Nidhi Thummalapalli
