With the construction of the new gym affecting the advisory rally and homecoming dance, the Associate Student Body (ASB) had to make major changes to Palo Alto High School’s annual Spirit Week. The addition of Paly’s first ever night rally and off-campus location for the dance were both extremely successful. The Campanile applauds ASB for its flexibility and creativity in forming new traditions to pull off an improved version of Spirit Week that prioritizes unified participation.
To begin with, ASB added a Wednesday night rally to this year’s Spirit Week agenda, replacing the Big Gym advisory rally. The Campanile commends ASB for the smooth transition, and believes that the night rally was a success, considering the high attendance on behalf of all four grades. Furthermore, students were advised to wear neon apparel of any color, not just the colors associated with their grade. This instruction served to promote school-wide unity, as opposed to furthering class divides.
Spirit commissioners Cezanne Lane and Reid Walters also chose to add a greater variety to rally the games, substituting a pumpkin carving contest for more athletically focused “Minute to Win It” games and attempting to include the blindfolded partner drawing (though there was not enough time to run the game). “Name that tune” was also a new addition to this year’s Spirit Week.
“We want kids from all groups to feel comfortable participating,” Walters said. “Cezanne and I spent a lot of time trying to construct games that accomplished that goal. Name that tune, pumpkin carving and the blindfolded art activity were all games that brought in more artistic people but that were also visually appealing for the crowd to watch.”
These revisions align with ASB’s move last year to make spirit dance open to as many people that wanted to participate. While there remains controversy over this change with many students citing a decrease in dance quality, The Campanile maintains that allowing an unlimited number of participants (the seniors had the most dancers at 74 in this year’s Spirit Week) brings each grade together. The five points per dancer also adds an incentive to high participation — a system The Campanile believes should be extended to float building.
Overall, The Campanile believes that ASB has successfully stressed the importance of unity throughout Spirit Week through the revamps.