Pajama Day, Tie Tuesday, Harry Potter Day, and Formal Day are the five days voted in by students in a student government sponsored, NWN poll along with Red and White day to be part of the spring spirit week scheduled to start Monday, March 12 and ending on Friday, March 16.

Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Tie Tuesday
Wednesday: Harry Potter Day
Thursday: Formal Day
Friday: Red and White Day

This spirit week was special because the students of Niles West were able to vote on the days. The top five days were Formal Day with 20%, Harry Potter Day with 17%, Pajama Day with 13%, Tie Tuesday with 10%, and Hat Day with 9%; however, only the top four made it into spirit week so Hat Day was cut. The bottom three were Sports Day with 4%, Hawaiian Day with 3%, and Miss-match day with 3%. The poll had a total of 826 votes.

Many students and teachers alike think spirit is a highlight of the school year, like engineering teacher Ben Brzezinski.

“I think spirit is huge for morale. If people are happy at school, they want to be at school. It’s just a morale issue,” said Brzezinski.

Some students, like sophomore Daniel Bedoya, are much more critical of spirit week.

“If the school had well thought-out spirit days there would be much more participation,” said Bedoya, “Nobody likes spirit week. I don’t even know when it is until the day of. What are the days? Harry Potter Day? Pajama Day? What, are we in second grade?”

Sophomore Kyle McCaffery, a member of student government, explains why the student government used the polling system this time.

“The student government goes out of the way to change things up and then we see if it works,” said McCaffery. “We wanted to have a better input of what the students think. We will most definitely do it again.”

On Friday, March 16, the school day will end with a pep assembly to officially end spirit week.