This year’s spirit week at Athens Drive garnered a lot of attention and criticism. Students were not happy with the themes, saying that they were “lame” or “unrelatable.”
Athens students resonated better with the spirit week themes at other schools, such as Cary High and Enloe. The themes were disliked so much that the students at Athens Drive decided to make a new spirit week to rebel against the student council week.
They exchanged Merica’ Monday for Blackout Monday. Tourist Tuesday was replaced with Pajama Day. Workout Wednesday became Jersey Wednesday and Class Shirt Day would be Throwback Thursday. Friday’s theme of blue and orange remained the same for both versions.
The new spirit week created by students brought up a school-wide controversy. Some teachers and students disliked the rebellion, thinking that there was nothing wrong with the school-organized spirit week themes. Other teachers and students did not mind and found the alternative spirit week helpful, like Lauren Latta, teacher at ADHS.
“I did not have a class shirt to wear on Thursday, so I dressed up for Throwback Thursday,” said Latta.
The school was split in half with some students doing the original week, and some students choosing the alternatives. Christopher Remaley, a teacher at ADHS, was not pleased with the alternative week. He felt that the alternative week was breaking the school up, rather than pulling the students together.
“The best thing about spirit week is it’s something we can all do together as a school. Unity,” said Remaley.
Other schools in Wake County had better luck with their spirit week, such as Cary High. Their spirit week consisted of: Early 2000’s, on Wednesdays We Wear Pink, Country VS Country Club and Extreme Green & White Day.
“Pink day or extreme green & white day were my favorite days because everyone went all out and you could see all the colors around the school,” said Scarlett Erb, freshman at Cary High School.
Many Athens Drive students were comparing the spirit week they had been given to Enloe High School’s spirit week and were jealous of how theirs was more “normal.” Enloe’s spirit week had PJ Day, Twin Tuesday, Western Wednesday, 2000’s Thursday, Green & Gold Day.
“I really liked this year’s spirit week at Enloe because the different days weren’t hard to dress up for, but they were unique at the same time,” said Daniella Biblin, freshman at Enloe High School.
In the future I am hoping for a more classic spirit week with days that everyone feels comfortable dressing up for.
For instance, a good alternative to Merica’ Monday would have been Nationality Day, where everyone dressed up to represent their culture. Workout Wednesday definitely was an odd choice because everyone’s “so-called” workout clothes are different. For example, my usual school attire is the same type of clothes that I workout in, so I did not know what to wear. For many people, workout clothes are the same as regular ones. Many may also be uncomfortable with wearing these as modern day workout clothes and could feel targeted.
“I think that spirit week next year should be decided by more of the student council members and not just the president. That would give spirit week more creative ideas for different days,” said Enzo Moscatello, student at Athens Drive High School.
It seems like the impact of having an alternative spirit week was good and bad, with some finding it helpful, and some finding it too confusing. Next year if the school spirit week is decided by a larger variety of people, then it might not be so random and could include more classic and easy ideas.
