by Leah Lewis
Photo by Avery Goldman
This year, between Monday, October 16th and Friday, October 20th, Willow students dressed up for this year’s Spirit Week, earning them spirit points for their grade levels. The lineup this year was Monday Pajama Day, Tuesday Dynamic Duos, Wednesday Anything But a Backpack Day, Throwback Thursday, and Friday had grade-level themes. On Spirit Day, 8th through 12th graders battle each other through performances they’d prepared.
All this went down as expected. The shocker was that the senior class, for the first time in Lusher/Willow recent memory, did not win Spirit Day, taking second place to the juniors.
The themes for each grade level were the 8th grade Barbies, 9th grade Frightening Freshmen, 10th grade 610 Sophomores, 11th grade Top Gun, and 12th grade Saddle Up Seniors. Each grade’s performances included chants, dancing, and singing, which is what the judges looked for to determine their winners. This Spirit Day winners were the Juniors. They were in a close tie with the Seniors, who came in second place.
“It feels so good to be the winners!” said Piper Briguglio, a junior class representative. “We came so close last year, and I think we all wanted redemption really badly this year. Mia and I worked very hard, and it’s great to see that work pay off.”
Although there was much excitement amongst juniors, naturally, many seniors were disappointed with this year’s results, believing that the 2024 seniors deserved the win. On a scale of one to five, one being the worst, 31.6% of seniors rated Spirit week a two, while only 15.8% rated it a five.
“It’s kind of disappointing that the seniors didn’t win because that was the most united our grade has ever felt,” said senior Alex Eskew.
“It felt really devastating seeing my grade lose after all the effort that everybody put in and how much everybody participated,” said senior Alena Brimmer, “but it meant a lot that we came together as a grade.”
Some students had a concern that, for the following years, the spirit theme dress up days should have more variety, pointing out that the same dress up themes have already been done in previous years. Hopefully, this concern will be taken into consideration when Spirit Week rolls around next year, as dressing up is one of the main excitements of Spirit Week.
“I do think Spirit Week is important because it brings everyone together in a way that is fun,” said junior Mia Montelibano, “and, in a sense, it’s a bonding experience both at the grade level and at the entire high school level. Spirit Week is a perfect example of healthy competition, as it fosters creativity, cooperation, and enthusiasm.”
