This year’s Spirit Week has come to an end. Planned months in advance, the week was met with much success and high participation from each class. 

The themes for this year’s Spirit Week revolved around several iconic reality TV shows. For the Freshman Class, the theme was America’s Got Talent; for the Sophomore Class, it was Survivor; for the Junior Class, it was Dance Moms; for the Seniors, it was The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Each class created a banner, booth and dance for their respective themes. The Senior Class won all categories. In addition to the banner, booth, and dance competitions, a “hype video” competition was held; the Freshman Class took home first place, sophomores won second place, and third place was a tie between the Senior and Junior Classes. 

Spirit Week was kicked off with the first dress-up day: Team Sports Jersey Day. It was followed by Stand Out or Blend In Day, Country vs Country Club Day, College vs Middle School Day, the unprecedented Adam Sandler Day, and Class Color Day. East’s annual Powderpuff football game, which took place on November 14th, also helped launch Spirit Week to a success. The senior girls won against the junior girls with a score of 7-6. 

Numerous other activities took place throughout the week. During lunch breaks, competitions were held in Cafeteria 1, like a pie eating contest, and in the gym, like tug-of-war. Other activities included East’s Cupcake Challenge, won by senior Nhi Nguyen (‘23) who made bouquet-themed cupcakes, and a Cougar Scavenger Hunt, during which students collected colored “Cougar Cards” to gain points for their class. 

The annual Spirit Week Food Drive occurred again, allowing students to gain points for their class while donating non-perishable food items to the Cherry Hill Food Pantry. The Senior Class was the first to collect 1,000 non-perishables. 

East’s annual Spirit Week Dance Competition wrapped up the week’s activities. Each class danced to a compilation of songs that matched their class theme and incorporated unique talents from dancers in the group; for example, the Freshman Class included a drum performance in their performance. In the dance, the Senior Class came first, the Junior Class got second place, the Sophomore Class got third place, and the Freshman Class came in fourth place. 

With Spirit Week points added up from all activities and competitions, the Freshman Class came in last place, the Juniors came in third and the Sophomores came in second place, putting the Senior Class at the top. Overall, Spirit Week remains a large part of East culture as a beloved tradition for years to come.