With the calendar year wrapping up and a four-day Thanksgiving break ahead, the National Honor Society helped Malden High School kick off this year’s spirit week. Spirit Week has proven itself to be one of the most enjoyable weeks of school as students and faculty can express their school spirit, pride, and competitiveness while building a community and relaxing from the workload during the quarter.
Students and staff at Malden High were able to participate from November 20th to November 27th, with a variety of themes such as Anything but a Bag Day and Twin Day. By participating in the themed days, students could gain points for their grades. These points were announced during the school’s annual Pep Rally, which was hosted on November 27th, the last day of Spirit Week. Senior Merari Flores expressed that she enjoys Spirit Week because“it’s fun and something to look forward to. It is also something that isn’t forceful and allows students to participate if they feel like doing so.”
The week kicked off with Culture Day. With the massive, diverse student body at Malden High School, students could showcase their roots by appearing in either their cultural clothing or flags/objects that represented their respective backgrounds. Sophomore Laurene Pierre-Louis-Pierre, who participated in Culture Day, noted that this day “is a good way to express and show other people where you and your family are from. e already know that we have people from different countries in this school, but seeing the different colors and clothing is really nice.”
Following Culture Day, Thursday would introduce Anything but a Bag Day. This day allowed people to showcase their creativity by attending class without a classic book bag or backpack. Luggage, mini-ovens, pillowcases, and even rice bags were stuffed with books and school supplies, allowing students to get a laugh out of the day without causing any harm. Sophomore Nora Donaghey said they thought “the day was super fun, and I loved seeing the more creative bags in the hallways.” They added, “It would have been even more fun if more people had participated.”
The third day of Spirit Week was Twin Day. That Friday, students and staff around the school were seen twinning with each other in matching outfits or clothes. Senior Julianna Lin, who dressed up as Thing 3, twinned with her friends, who dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. She said that she loved seeing “how creative everyone was with Twin Day.” She thought it was great to “see both staff and students participating,” and claimed that Twin Day “never gets old.” Junior Oscar Luc, who was matching outfits with Sania Chen and Audrey Nguyen, found it as “a great way to express themselves with friends.”.
As the new week began, the fourth day of Spirit Week was Pajama Day, which is arguably the mostpopularn day of Spirit Week. Pajamas were seen throughout the school as students and staff dressed up out of their normal wear and wore sleeping attire if they wished.
“It was nice seeing the participation in the school and it was fun coming to school comfy,” senior Emma Stranto, whose favorite day of Spirit Week is Pajama Day, said.
The fifth day of Spirit Week had two themes: Decades Day and Wacky Tacky Day. They seemed to be a hit as teachers and students either dressed up in mismatched attire for Wacky Tacky Day or clothes that represented a decade of their choice for Decades Day. Senior Karla Duenas chose to dress up in 2000s attire and claimed that this was one of her favorite days of the week. “I could get creative with my outfit, and seeing people that I didn’t know dressed up in Decades Day clothes made me go up to them and compliment their outfit,” she said.
Spirit Week concluded with Blue & Gold or Pep Rally day. Students and staff wore Blue and Gold on the final day to showcase their school spirit, as the day ended with the annual Pep Rally where the grades competed in a variety of physical games to determine who the best grade was based on how many points they earned. Going into the Pep Rally, the seniors had the lead due to the number of people that participated during Spirit Week, and it led them to their first Pep Rally win after almost losing to the Freshmen.
As Spirit Week came to an end, Flores reflected on her final Spirit Week and claimed that although Spirit Week is usually one of the most enjoyable events in our school, she believed that it could use some changes. “I personally like Spirit Week and I do like to participate if the themes are good. I think Spirit Week could change a bit because I have heard students say how it’s the same thing every year and it could be more creative. For example instead of Pajama Day, it could be ‘dress up as your favorite meme,’ or something more engaging. But overall, I like Spirit Week and I’m glad our school does it.”
Science teacher Julie Grillon expanded upon Flores’ ideas by saying that she “enjoyed Spirit Week and dressing up.” Grillon also mentioned that she was “sad to miss Pajama Day,” which is her “favorite day of the week.” But she also noted that the week ended off on a high note due to the Pep Rally that followed being “better than years past.”
Despite Spirit Week ending, most students and staff are excited to build school spirit again and are looking forward to its return next year.
