Niles West is holding its annual spirit week starting Tuesday, Oct. 14. The Homecoming game is against Maine West on Oct.18 at 7:30 p.m. The Homecoming dance is 24-K themed and will take place in the gym from 6:15 p.m to 9:30 p.m.
This year is different from previous years due to the inclusion of student cabinet-sponsored events and more student representation in the 2024 themes.
“The change is working directly with students and them being more involved. I’ve been working with class cabinets and the student activities leadership council, and we’ve been talking about unity, what it means to have a school spirit, and what kind of activities we plan that will create more participation,” Student Activity Director Caitlin Lucci said.
Cabinet members also think that the idea of more student representation is the gateway to success.
“I think student input helps make the theme days a bit more relevant to today because, let’s be honest, the stereotypical spirit days were probably created in like the 90s. Something I’m really happy was approved is ‘Anything but a Backpack Day’ because there was some pushback on that because there was the potential of it being unsafe, but with the district’s help we were able to come up with some restrictions to make it safer. [Also,] I’m so excited we did because it’s a really creative yet accessible day,” junior executive officer Emilia Rydzewski said.
According to senior cabinet executive, Giulia Patrascu, theme week has also been different and a little bit challenging to execute due to environmental changes.
“One big downside to this week is that we only really get three days of spirit week since we have Monday off, for Indigenous People’s Day, and Friday is always class colors. And since the weather is constantly changing we have to be mindful of where we’re having events,” Patrascu said.
The week starts off with Tuesday’s Pajama Day, with junior and senior cabinet sponsoring pumpkin decorating during lunch periods. The activity consists of students going to the courtyard and painting a mini pumpkin. After school, freshman and sophomore cabinet will host a banner-making competition from four to five and six to seven. The participants will get an hour to create a banner that represents their group, whether that be a club or their friends. This event, unlike the pumpkin decorating, will not be free and has a fee of 12 dollars, but equipment is provided. If the winners are a club they will receive either pizza or ice cream, and if the winners are a group of friends they will receive an upscale lunch.
Wednesday is anything but a backpack day, with the condition of it being nonliving, safe for school and can be carried independently. The event that day is Ravelin’ Tom’s Coffee truck, which will be accessible to students at door 24 from nine to 11 a.m. Then there is Throwback Thursday, where you dress in a vintage-type outfit, and the event is karaoke and photobooths in the lunchroom. Lastly, Friday is class colors: seniors wear red, juniors black, sophomores white and freshmen grey. Friday’s event is the Homecoming game.
A common theme of these events is inclusivity and to find ways to increase student participation.
“It is important to me to plan ideas that are accessible and that don’t spark panic from students, where they won’t participate because they don’t know how to dress for the theme. Things that are accessible and fun because that’s how we strengthen unity. Yes, our student body is very diverse but on days like this, we don’t want to plan activities where only a few extraverted students would participate. The goal is to find themes that will allow students to thrive together instead of being divided,” Lucci said.
Lucci explains why this year’s themes are so simplistic.
“While I understand that these themes might not be as creative as some might like, I believe that for the week to be fun for everyone they need to be achievable, which means yes making some creative sacrifices. But the way for the week to be truly enjoyable is to make the school a more united community,” Lucci said.
