Imagine next week at Cherry Hill High School East is Spirit Week, and with every Spirit Week comes something everyone can participate in — dress-up days. Excited, you check to see how you can show your school spirit, just to realize it’s the same two or three themes being reused over and over again. Unfortunately, for East students, this is the reality.
During Red Ribbon Week, East included the following five themes: Team Sports, Pajama Day, Western Wear, East Apparel/Red Day, and Halloween. This November, the five Spirit Week dress-up days included Twin Day, Black Out “Horror”, Country vs. Country Club, Fandom Day, and finally “Spirit Day.”
These themes are glaringly similar to the Red Ribbon Week dress-up day themes. For instance, Team Sports Day and Fandom Day are practically synonymous. Black Out “Horror” and Halloween are almost comrades, and Country vs. Country Club is nearly identical to Western Wear Day. East Apparel Day and “Spirit Day” are the same thing, but one could argue that there cannot be a spirit week without a school apparel day. Twin Day is the only new, unique category introduced to this year’s Spirit Week.
To encourage student engagement, East should try to incorporate new dress-up days into each Spirit Week instead of recycling used ideas. This would help students be excited and eager to participate in dress-up days, rather than barely participating.
To generate new ideas, an open-ended survey could be conducted in all four grade-level classrooms before Spirit Week to gather feedback about what themes students would like to see during dress-up days. The SGA should not be the only ones choosing Spirit Week themes, because 10-20 people cannot represent the opinions of all of East students. If students’ ideas were incorporated, East can create more diverse themes, which truly lets the spirit of dress-up days shine.
By listening to students themselves, East can transform Spirit Week into a more exciting and creative experience. Incorporating new dress-up ideas will not only make participation fun for everyone, but also strengthen school pride and community. After all, the true spirit of dress-up days lies in the creativity, energy, and joy of the students — so let’s make sure every voice matters.