School Spirit

When I was a freshman, I heard upperclassmen tell me that time flies by in high school, but I didn’t really believe it until, all of a sudden, I found myself walking the hallways as a junior. Now, school years seem crunched, and summers feel much shorter. You get four years with the same people and teachers at this school. Four years at IKE as a cadet. It can seem like a long time, but it sure goes by fast. We should make the most of the time we have here by trying new things and taking risks.

A risk I recommend taking, is participating in school spirit in as many ways as you can. You can go to sports events, wear IKE gear, join in on your class victory dance, clap along with our fight song, scream with the spirit can, and participate in assembly games. We’ve all lived through COVID when there were no gatherings, no cheering -- just isolation. So, going into high school, it was really different to be in a room full of 2,000 students at a pep assembly. It could be out of your comfort zone to join in on some of the cheers and dances but the more people who do it, the more people want to join and have fun together. Spirit is contagious. Who knows, maybe you’ll make a friend with the person beside you at the assembly.

School spirit is also a healthy, fun competition between classes. At the beginning of the year, the first school pep assembly showed that seniors and sophomores had the most spirit, but I think after the homecoming assembly the juniors have stepped up. So far this year I’d rank seniors first as having the best school spirit, then sophomores, followed by juniors, and then freshmen. To witness our school spirit and be a part of the high school experience, I went to the homecoming football game and stood in the student section with my friends. The majority of it was seniors, but I saw sophomores and juniors I knew, and a few freshmen. I’d say that football games are some of the best ways to have fun with school spirit and cheer along with our amazing cheerleaders. Football games definitely encourage you to talk to the person next to you about what’s going on during the quarter or make sure they don’t fall off the bleachers.

Overall, I challenge you to have more school spirit this year and participate in assemblies so your high school years are years you remember. After all, we are IKE and the E stands for engagement.