How a new regulation has influenced the long tradition of Spirit Week and students’ opinions
Emyr Ortiz
Staff Writer
Spirit Week has often been a time to show off and be daring. Whether it was with a difficult dance routine or different costumes, Spirit Week has been the time to see and participate in new things. However, after last year’s night rally incident, there has been a renewed focus on safety which has prompted new regulations.
“Well, we said no acrobatics,” informs Mr. Fulton, the activities director. “And as classes have been working on their dances and choreography and other things, they’re asking me what is acceptable or not.”
Still, administrators do realize the importance of spirit week.
“I am a big believer that school is a place that you should want to come to, and I hope that for lots of students spirit week is a week of the year where they’re super excited to be here at school.”
In fact, Fulton does not believe that the rule change will make an impact on the essence of spirit week.
“There’s a lot to spirit week, and I think, changing one part…like the ability to do a flip in the lunch rally is…just a small part. [There are] other things that we’re trying to get people excited about, whether it’s…a glow in the dark dance or a way that a class puts a cartoon in their skit. That’s why I tried to push when I talked to class councils…[about] being creative and coming up with new stuff because every year somebody does something new.”
For the most part, the student body also seems to agree with Fulton
“We[‘re trying] to think of new creative things instead of just moving around and are trying to incorporate the whole group instead of… one person being able to do tricks,” says Rachel Tsai (11), one of the dance coordinators.
While the rule change has allowed for more people to get involved, they still eliminate a long tradition. However, students surprisingly have not taken up the new regulations with Mr. Fulton.
“There has been no pushback. I think everyone who was here last year and [who] remembers what happened understands why rules are the way they are now.”
Away from the leadership team, however, opinions differ.
“I think [the new rules] really held us back because I noticed….it really limited us in what–especially what me and some other people in the team–did because we were already used to doing flips and really high kicks and things like that,” says Natania Ishanato (10), the sophomore fight scene choreographer. “Things like this really limited what we could have done for fight scene…[and] that stopped some really cool things.”
Even so, with the events of last year in mind, administrators are unwavering in their beliefs on the importance of the new rules.
“[The event last year] reminded me that…we need to make sure that…the stunts or whatever is done in the routine do not endanger a student’s safety,” said Assistant Principal Ms. Diaconis. “Again, back to that student safety, that’s got to be the number one thing.”
So, with the rule firm in its place, some students have decided to focus on the positive and have embraced the new changes.
“I think [the rule change] is a little strict but seeing what happened last year, I think it’s a good change,” commented Tsai.
Even those who are more opinionated on the negative aspects of the change can see a silver lining.
“[The rule change] has had positive effects because of safety, so I think that’s a plus at least,” reflected Ishanato. “I mean…it really forced us to think outside the box and try to find ways to do cool things even without having to do flips.”
Caption:
Colin Oliva and Jay Kochhar perform during the Junior rally’s fight scene on October 21st. While new rules have made it harder to do flips during rallies, the performers were able to work around them to perform this specific move. “We’ve had ideas to do…cool stunts and stuff, but we have to choose alternate things to do and that’s just kind of disappointing,” said Rachel Tsai (11) on how the new rules have affected performance choreography.
Pc: Patrick Shao (12)
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