Earlier this month, students were given the opportunity to vote on Spring Spirit Days.

From all perspectives, voting seemed like the best option to keep everyone happy and refraining from complaints that have been made in the past regarding rebellion relating to school spirit, as well as issues involving class spirit versus school spirit. So, to avoid that, student government gave everyone the right to vote. That should keep everyone happy, right?

Wrong.

When the options for Spring Spirit Week were announced, the students that I was around were all in shock and screaming things like:

“Teacher-student switch day?  Is that a joke?”

“Really?”

“Are they serious?”

“How do you even do that?”

For those of you who actually go to homeroom, you should have a homeroom representative who asked you for your ideas a few weeks ago. Though that could have been an effective way to get all voices throughout the school heard, there’s still something a bit off about the whole process, like the fact that there are probably over a hundred homerooms in the school, and there were only seven options for the students to vote on.   The options were either boring or nonsensical.  Pajama Day (big surprise), Teacher Student Switch Day, Neon Day, Country Music Day, Fictional Character Day, Medieval Day, and Middle School Day… Nothing that really screams fun.

“Well, the week is called ‘school-spirit week’ for a reason,” junior Garrett Iverson said. “These options are supposed to get kids excited about being a Niles West student. Giving seven options for a five day period seems like slim-pickings for ‘spirit.’ Also, did all of the Niles West homerooms agree on seven ideas?”

Complaints were expressed through the announcement of the Spirit Days on the NWN and also among students. Senior Lyba Zia commented on the story claiming that “these ideas were all brought up by the Homeroom Representatives and Government is simply presenting the school with the most prominent suggestions. If you have concerns, please create better communication with your Homeroom Representative.”

Obviously, I’m not asking for over a hundred options, and not to step on anyone’s toes here, but I think that there may have been better options than “medieval day” and “teacher-student switch day.”

Realistically, how many high school students are going to come to class in a full on princess or dragon costume? And most teachers dress the way students do – simple in jeans and a nice shirt, so there’s really no sense in having that day. And don’t even get me started on Pajama Day, that’s a given and completely unoriginal.

If the school really wants to see us have school spirit, we need to have ideas presented to the student body that actually appeal to us and that are simple and fun to participate in.

My question is, why is West so afraid to try something new? Our school gives us opportunities to speak out and express ourselves, and while voting for Spring Spirit Week, multiple students spoke out and opted for a week called “decade week.”

The idea is that instead of having random days throughout the week, the entire Spirit Week would have a common theme. For example, Monday would be the Roaring ’20s, Tuesday would be the Nifty ’50s, Wednesday would be the Disco ’70s, and so on and so forth.

Senior Jonass Placitis says that decade week “sounds awesome! I think that if people put some time into their spirit we can really explore the styles that used to be prominent back in the day and maybe get some insight into what our current clothes evolved from.”

Iverson had other ideas.

“I think there should be at least top 10 choices so the students can create their own spirit, not what the school wants the students to do. My vote is for ‘bro-tank day,’ but that’s just me,” he said.

Whether the student body is opting for decade week or bro-tank day, the bottom line is that students are not pumped for the current options. According to junior Taylor Hoffman, while some ideas like middle school day are good, “others are over done or just weird… I know that our homeroom suggested a lot better ideas and it doesn’t seem like they were put into consideration. So next time, we should be able to vote, not just student government and that way people will be more excited to do it.”